Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $37.93 Million Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 426,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,803 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $37,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $99.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.02. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Ameren Company 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.