Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Barclays from $101.00 to $104.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.34% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.89.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $99.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.41. Ameren has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,250,000 after buying an additional 926,126 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.