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

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $111.00 to $114.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.55% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays cut their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.27.

Ameren Stock Down 0.1%

AEE stock opened at $96.16 on Friday. Ameren has a twelve month low of $72.33 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.29.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,445,138,000 after purchasing an additional 979,928 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ameren by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,404,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,851,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355,848 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,157,000 after purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.