Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $97.99 and last traded at $97.05, with a volume of 1989103 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $97.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

Ameren Stock Down 0.0 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after buying an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after acquiring an additional 39,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Ameren by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.