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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.70.

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $98.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.