Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $105.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ameren traded as high as $100.62 and last traded at $98.34, with a volume of 3561331 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $98.27.

AEE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.70.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Ameren by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $901,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $92.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.63.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 10.09% and a net margin of 15.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

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.