T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Has $1.52 Billion Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the period. Ameren comprises 0.9% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 6.38% of Ameren worth $1,518,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Ameren by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Evercore ISI raised 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays cut their target price on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.33.

Ameren Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $98.53. The company had a trading volume of 261,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,584,371. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $98.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.87. 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 one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.