Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Given New $105.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.84% from the company’s current price.

AEE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.70.

Ameren Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $98.28. 1,274,203 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,504,519. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $92.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren has a one year low of $69.31 and a one year high of $100.61.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.