Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. The company engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution and transmission businesses. It primarily generates electricity through coal, nuclear, and natural gas, as well as renewable sources, such as hydroelectric, wind, methane gas, and solar. The company serves residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Ameren Corporation was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
Ameren Stock Up 0.3 %
Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.95. 9,534 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,138,796. Ameren has a twelve month low of $80.27 and a twelve month high of $99.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.35. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $89.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.53.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.07). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 14.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ameren Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 7th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 6th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.51%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AEE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameren from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 21st. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ameren from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 30th. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, April 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $99.00 to $91.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.75.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 2,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.32, for a total value of $250,691.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 148,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,113,079.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Mark C. Birk sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.90, for a total value of $375,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,562,799.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 2,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.32, for a total transaction of $250,691.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 148,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,113,079.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,630 shares of company stock worth $5,658,552 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.