Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Receives $87.80 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.80.

AEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Ameren Trading Down 0.7 %

Ameren stock opened at $91.40 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.34. The company has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $92.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in Ameren by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 1.4% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Company Profile

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.