Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

AEE has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ameren from $126.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BTIG Research set a $126.00 target price on Ameren in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.15.

Ameren Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE:AEE opened at $103.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $96.57 and a fifty-two week high of $118.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.54.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Ameren had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren will post 5.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 8th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.82%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, Director Rafael Flores sold 248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.53, for a total transaction of $26,171.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,600.64. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total transaction of $708,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 199,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,758,113.44. This trade represents a 3.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,073 shares of company stock worth $769,814 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Ameren by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. NFSG Corp purchased a new position in Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 326.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,522,000 after purchasing an additional 335,241 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation is a regulated electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its operating companies, Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois, the company provides electric generation, transmission and distribution services, as well as natural gas distribution.

Ameren serves approximately 2.5 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers across Missouri and Illinois. Its operations include a diverse generation portfolio and infrastructure designed to deliver reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while supporting the transition toward cleaner energy resources.

Ameren was formed in 1997 through the merger of Union Electric Company and CIPSCO Inc The company is led by Martin J.