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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.80.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $254,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $384,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 46.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the first quarter worth approximately $97,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $88.74 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.28. The firm has a market cap of $23.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $88.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. Ameren’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 60.63%.

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.