UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Buys 231,373 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,200,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 231,373 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.45% of Ameren worth $107,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,429,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Ameren by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,455 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Ameren by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,850 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,901,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,061,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp raised Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.90.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3%

Ameren stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $95.59. 226,647 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,774,844. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $97.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.33.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.