Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $117.43

Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $117.95.

AEE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $136.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $113.74 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.20 and a 200-day moving average of $108.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. Ameren has a twelve month low of $96.57 and a twelve month high of $118.32. The firm has a market cap of $31.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.42.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.13. Ameren had a net margin of 17.90% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ameren will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, SVP Theresa Shaw sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total value of $35,402.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,340 shares in the company, valued at $3,522,796.20. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.72, for a total transaction of $719,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,790 shares in the company, valued at $21,456,428.80. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,073 shares of company stock worth $781,254. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 62.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after buying an additional 4,758 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Ameren by 475.1% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 16,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 13,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Composition Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 3,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation is a regulated utility holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its subsidiaries, it provides electric and natural gas service to customers across Missouri and Illinois. Ameren Missouri generates, transmits and distributes electricity and delivers natural gas in parts of Missouri. Ameren Illinois operates electric transmission and distribution systems and provides natural gas delivery service in parts of Illinois. The company also develops and operates electric transmission infrastructure.