First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 470 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 470 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 10,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.30.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE opened at $94.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $96.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $91.21 and its 200-day moving average is $86.19.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.