Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $7.32 Million in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 82,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,323,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 7,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $696,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $600,157,000 after buying an additional 77,282 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company 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 stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.22.

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Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 0.7 %

AEE stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $97.44. 1,321,307 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,577,264. The company has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.