Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Argus

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price upped by Argus from $108.00 to $115.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, December 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.45.

Ameren Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $106.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Ameren has a 1 year low of $91.77 and a 1 year high of $113.93. The company has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $107.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.94.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 56.07%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AEE. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 285.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in Ameren during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 6,040.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Ameren by 6,080.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.