Brokerages Set Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Target Price at $113.45

Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $113.4545.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Ameren by 285.5% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% in 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, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 6,080.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock opened at $110.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $108.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.35. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $91.77 and a fifty-two week high of $113.93. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $30.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 56.07%.

About Ameren

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.