Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Given New $114.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley lowered Ameren’s price target to $114 from $118 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying approximately 4.89% upside from the stock’s prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Ameren has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $121.42, supported by 10 Buy and three Hold ratings.
• Ameren exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.13 versus the $1.08 consensus, although revenue fell 5.8% year over year to $2.09 billion and missed estimates.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $118.00 to $114.00 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 target price indicates a potential upside of 4.89% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ameren from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $126.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.42.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $108.69. 146,182 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,713,739. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $96.57 and a fifty-two week high of $118.32. The company's 50 day moving average is $111.11 and its 200-day moving average is $110.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 17.86%.The company's revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total value of $708,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 199,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,758,113.44. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total transaction of $35,402.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,340 shares in the company, valued at $3,522,796.20. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,559,565,000 after purchasing an additional 495,945 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,918,526,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,885,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,586,324,000 after buying an additional 362,052 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,503,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,448,342,000 after buying an additional 457,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Ameren by 3.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,223,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $597,673,000 after buying an additional 179,137 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation NYSE: AEE is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren's core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.

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