Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.40.

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEE. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in Ameren by 78.7% during 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. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $99.26 on Friday. Ameren has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.90.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly 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 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

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.