Korea Investment CORP Purchases 77,200 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 57.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 210,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,200 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $18,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Ameren by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 184,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 7.4% in 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. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 195,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,401,000 after acquiring an additional 20,124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock opened at $99.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.02. The company has a market capitalization of $26.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.