Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.00.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AEE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $85.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $80.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Ameren has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $85.85.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

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.