Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.89.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AEE shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $460,917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,445,138,000 after buying an additional 979,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.2 %

Ameren stock opened at $97.48 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. Ameren has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $98.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

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.