Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Receives $92.70 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.70.

AEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Ameren Trading Up 1.3 %

AEE stock traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.52. 4,117,866 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,657,325. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $100.61. The company has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's fifty day moving average is $92.62 and its 200-day moving average is $88.86.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,411,125,000 after purchasing an additional 392,170 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ameren by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $600,157,000 after purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. 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.