Morgan Stanley Lowers Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target to $86.00

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $86.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 8.33% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AEE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.90.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $93.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.29. 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 has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $94.46.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of Ameren 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Zimmer Partners LP raised its position in Ameren by 204.3% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569,897 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 106.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after buying an additional 1,286,162 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,410,000 after buying an additional 1,147,723 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Ameren by 3,738.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,234,000 after acquiring an additional 726,438 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.