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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.70.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $98.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $92.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.11. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $100.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.49.

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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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 transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,417,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,198,000 after acquiring an additional 126,157 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.