Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Raised to $124.00 at Truist Financial

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price increased by Truist Financial from $121.00 to $124.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

AEE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $115.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.67.

Ameren Stock Up 1.3%

AEE stock opened at $112.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. Ameren has a twelve month low of $96.27 and a twelve month high of $118.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $110.47 and its 200-day moving average is $108.80.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.Ameren’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 53.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.35, for a total transaction of $164,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 32,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,602,317.05. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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