Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $57.87 Million Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 649,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,927 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $57,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased 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 buying an additional 125 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.2% during the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.7% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 10,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. Barclays downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley raised 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, Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $97.09 on Monday. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $97.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.76. The company has a market cap of $25.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

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.