Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.40.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $74.49 on Thursday. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $90.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.45. The company has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.33%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,289,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,335,838,000 after purchasing an additional 180,794 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,849,000 after acquiring an additional 156,733 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ameren by 3.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,824,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,379,000 after acquiring an additional 101,023 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Ameren by 1.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,430,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,867,000 after acquiring an additional 29,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Ameren by 30.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,081,000 after acquiring an additional 532,800 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Company Profile

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.