Barclays Cuts Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target to $73.00

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $74.00 to $73.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AEE. StockNews.com downgraded Ameren from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ameren from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a sell rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $79.40.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $71.93 on Monday. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $91.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.50.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 100,874.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,604,406,000 after acquiring an additional 74,200,015 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,289,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,335,838,000 after purchasing an additional 180,794 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 46.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,337,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,326,568,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790,342 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,302,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,700 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.