Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys New Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,784,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 426,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,927,000 after acquiring an additional 42,803 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in Ameren by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 210,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 77,200 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 184,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $99.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.02.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ameren Profile

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.