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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $99.22.

A number of analysts recently commented on AEE shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised 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 period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $901,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AEE opened at $98.86 on Thursday. Ameren has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $26.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.