Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Raised to $96.00

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $96.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.87% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on AEE. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.00.

Ameren Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE AEE traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $85.05. 623,805 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,610,601. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67. Ameren has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $85.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.34. The company has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Ameren by 115.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Ameren in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.