Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE opened at $91.24 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.80. Ameren has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $95.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 227.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. American National Bank acquired a new position in Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.