Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Receives $89.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Ameren Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $89.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. Ameren has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $95.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.99.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 4.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 12.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 227.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 8.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,084,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.