Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Increased to $85.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $81.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 0.81% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.33.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

Ameren stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.69. The stock had a trading volume of 243,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,613,626. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $86.50.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 493.0% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 18,064 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in Ameren by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,849,000 after acquiring an additional 156,733 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Ameren by 703.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 129,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 113,250 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Ameren by 392.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 15,484 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,912,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.