Morgan Stanley Lowers Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target to $86.00

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 8.33% from the company’s previous close.

AEE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.90.

Ameren Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $93.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Ameren has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $94.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.03 and a 200 day moving average of $80.29. The firm has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after buying an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted 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 worth $398,992,000 after buying an additional 39,300 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Ameren by 204.3% during the first 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 period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.