Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Purchases 2,448 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 693,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,448 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $50,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Colony Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $73.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $91.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $71.85 and its 200 day moving average is $73.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 61.33%.

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.