Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Stock

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential upside of 2.15% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.70.

Ameren Trading Down 0.0 %

AEE stock traded down $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $98.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,146,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,438,066. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.67. Ameren has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 265.0% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,198,000 after buying an additional 126,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 334,752 shares during 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.