Analysts Set Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Target Price at $89.89

Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.89.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEE. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 331,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,019,000 after purchasing an additional 19,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $86.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $95.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

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.