Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Given New $100.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price suggests a potential upside of 5.86% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on AEE. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $114.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.80.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.47. 640,883 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,569,769. The company has a market cap of $25.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $97.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.66. Ameren has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,445,138,000 after purchasing an additional 979,928 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,404,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,851,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355,848 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ameren by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $600,157,000 after purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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