Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Stock Price

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

AEE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.90.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $93.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.47. Ameren has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $94.61.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ameren by 2.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after acquiring an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,992,000 after acquiring an additional 39,300 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 204.3% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.