CENTRAL TRUST Co Buys 340 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at $44,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AEE shares. Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Ameren Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $94.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $96.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.01.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by 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.