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

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.70.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $98.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $100.61.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.63%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth about $1,417,000. FMR LLC increased its position in 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. Lindenwold Advisors INC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ameren by 51.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after acquiring an additional 126,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.