Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Stock Price

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.24% from the company’s previous close.

AEE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.10.

Ameren Stock Down 0.3 %

Ameren stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $99.76. The company had a trading volume of 175,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,422,358. The company has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.28.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in Ameren by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.