Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Rating Increased to Outperform at Mizuho

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was upgraded by equities researchers at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $89.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $82.00. Mizuho’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.68% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays raised Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.70.

Ameren Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AEE opened at $85.02 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $85.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its stake in Ameren by 0.6% in the second quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Ameren by 1.4% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 5.5% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.