Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $113.93 and last traded at $113.1640, with a volume of 180292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho set a $117.00 price target on Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.30.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $106.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.07%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,050,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,097,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Ameren by 4.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,787,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $186,556,000 after purchasing an additional 79,763 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Ameren by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 255,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,305,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.