Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ameren Trading Down 1.1 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.70 and a 200-day moving average of $88.11. 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a PEG 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s 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 owns 205,171 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,417,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC bought a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter worth $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ameren by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after purchasing an additional 126,157 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.