Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $101.36.

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group set a $114.00 target price on shares of Ameren and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Ameren Stock Up 1.4%

Ameren stock opened at $98.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Ameren has a 1-year low of $74.33 and a 1-year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 62.97%.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 8,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 280 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.