Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 979,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,622,000 after purchasing an additional 91,182 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ameren by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 14,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 3,897 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 38,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after acquiring an additional 3,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Ameren by 51.5% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 45,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,217,000 after acquiring an additional 15,389 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $94.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $96.74.

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.