Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Raised to $120.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price upped by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $112.00 to $120.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 9.51% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.80.

Ameren Stock Up 3.4%

AEE opened at $109.58 on Friday. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $91.77 and a fifty-two week high of $110.50. The company has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $101.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.06.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 70.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Ameren by 285.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 728.9% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.