Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameren from "sell" to "hold"; MarketBeat shows an overall consensus of Moderate Buy with a $117.31 average target and recent analyst price targets roughly between $116 and $131.
• Recent results and valuation: Ameren slightly beat quarterly EPS ($0.78 vs. $0.77) and revenue ($1.78B vs. $1.69B) despite an 8.2% YoY revenue decline, and the stock trades around $111 with a $30.8B market cap and a PE of about 20.8.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on AEE. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $126.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.31.

Ameren Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $111.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $30.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.52. The firm's 50-day moving average is $110.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.56. Ameren has a 12-month low of $93.27 and a 12-month high of $115.53.

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. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 602 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its position in Ameren by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 14,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

About Ameren

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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