Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a $100.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target points to a potential upside of 3.74% from the company's previous close.

AEE has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $114.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.64.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $96.40 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $96.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.76. The firm has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 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. Ameren has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at $241,496,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,404,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,851,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.