Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Research Coverage Started at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE) in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $97.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on AEE. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $85.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $85.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $85.85.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the second quarter worth $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.