Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on AEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ameren from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Ameren from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Ameren from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.89.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $76.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.40. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $69.71 and a fifty-two week high of $92.43.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 14.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total transaction of $251,232.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 161,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,849,813.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $153,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in Ameren by 180.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 521,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,037,000 after buying an additional 335,398 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Ameren by 86.5% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 253,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,977,000 after buying an additional 117,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its position in Ameren by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. 77.77% 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 and transmission businesses.