Brokerages Set Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Price Target at $99.22

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.22.

AEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Ameren by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 35,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $286,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Ameren by 57.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 174,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,291,000 after acquiring an additional 63,993 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $97.44 on Thursday. Ameren has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.40 and a 200 day moving average of $93.02.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

About Ameren

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.