Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEEGet Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $96.40 and last traded at $96.46, with a volume of 74577 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.30.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Ameren

Ameren Stock Down 3.0 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.97. The stock has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ameren by 10.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 979,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,622,000 after acquiring an additional 91,182 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at about $372,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 4.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Ameren by 79.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 246,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,496,000 after buying an additional 108,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 14,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ameren

(Get Free Report)

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.

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