Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Lowered to $117.00 at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Ameren to $117 (from $119) and maintained an equal weight rating, implying roughly a 6.05% upside from the current price.
• Ameren shares traded down to $110.33 (down 0.8%) with a market cap of $30.52 billion and a P/E of 20.61, and the stock's 12‑month range is $93.27–$115.53.
• Ameren slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.78 vs. $0.77) and topped revenue expectations despite revenue being down 8.2% YoY; an insider sold 6,500 shares and institutional investors own about 79% of the company.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.05% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AEE. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Ameren from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Argus upped their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $117.31.

Ameren Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE AEE traded down $0.95 on Tuesday, hitting $110.33. 254,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,694,393. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.67 and a 200 day moving average of $105.40. Ameren has a twelve month low of $93.27 and a twelve month high of $115.53. The company has a market capitalization of $30.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Ameren's revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ameren will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% 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 the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in Ameren by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,289,000 after buying an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 48.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.