Brokerages Set Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Target Price at $93.40

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.40.

AEE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,901,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,729,000. Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AEE opened at $99.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.22.

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 last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

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.