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

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.22.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $96.52 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10.

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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were 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 was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.