Greenleaf Trust Buys 171 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Ameren were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,723 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Ameren by 3,738.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,234,000 after buying an additional 726,438 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 484.8% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,733,000 after acquiring an additional 528,270 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 26.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $96.63 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $97.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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.