Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at UBS Group from $106.00 to $113.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.34% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.83. 526,958 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,426,323. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,411,125,000 after acquiring an additional 392,170 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after buying an additional 334,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,157,000 after buying an additional 77,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 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.