Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $106.00 to $113.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 14.27% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.70.

Ameren Trading Down 1.1 %

Ameren stock opened at $98.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.93 and a 200-day moving average of $91.51. Ameren has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 41,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,614,000 after acquiring an additional 5,016 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,007,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.