Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE) in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $97.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AEE. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upgraded Ameren from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Ameren Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $85.62 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $85.85.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,447,516,000 after acquiring an additional 802,714 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 25.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593,638 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,849,000 after purchasing an additional 156,733 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 204.3% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,877,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,836,000 after purchasing an additional 23,967 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.