Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $105.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ameren traded as high as $100.62 and last traded at $98.34, with a volume of 3561331 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $98.27.

AEE has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $92.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.63. The company has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.06%.

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.