Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.30.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $110.02 on Friday. Ameren has a 12 month low of $91.77 and a 12 month high of $112.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $102.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren 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 transaction of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 19.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Ameren by 42.2% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $768,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.