Ameren Corporation $AEE Stock Position Lifted by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 543,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,461 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.20% of Ameren worth $56,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Ameren by 70.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 728.9% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 49.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.30.

Ameren Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:AEE opened at $113.17 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $91.77 and a 1-year high of $113.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.08%.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.