Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Upgraded at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Argus boosted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.31.

Ameren Trading Down 0.7%

Ameren stock opened at $109.18 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.47. The company has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.52. Ameren has a 52-week low of $93.27 and a 52-week high of $115.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The business 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Ameren by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 48.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ameren

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.