Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Ameren worth $16,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 117.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after buying an additional 11,802 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $248,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Cadence Bank bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $225,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Up 1.1 %

AEE stock opened at $99.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.97. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.