Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Receives $99.33 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.89.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Ameren by 0.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,849,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth about $215,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 331,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,019,000 after acquiring an additional 19,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $99.67. 1,105,161 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,584,311. Ameren has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $98.64 and a 200-day moving average of $94.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 62.97%.

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.