Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Raised to $98.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target lifted by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $93.00 to $98.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 5.91% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AEE. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $92.53. The company had a trading volume of 160,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,569,712. The stock has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.35. Ameren has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $95.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. State Street Corp increased its position in Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after buying an additional 127,287 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after buying an additional 39,300 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 106.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,162 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.