BMO Capital Markets Raises Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target to $81.00

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $76.00 to $81.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a sell rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut Ameren from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $79.90.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $74.23 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.32. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $90.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 245.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 40,202 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $1,168,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,272,000 after purchasing an additional 36,611 shares during the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $473,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,637,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,549,000 after purchasing an additional 17,468 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.