Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $113.18 and last traded at $112.94, with a volume of 140615 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $112.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Ameren in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.30.

Ameren Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.80.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 53.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 22.9% in the 1st 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,868,000 after acquiring an additional 12,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.