Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Increased to $81.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $74.00 to $81.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on AEE. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a buy rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ameren from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays raised Ameren from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $80.10.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.03. The stock had a trading volume of 765,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,899. The business's 50 day moving average price is $75.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.54. Ameren has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $84.40. The company has a market cap of $21.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,638 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $65,007,000 after buying an additional 12,431 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 493.0% during the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 18,064 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in Ameren by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $369,849,000 after purchasing an additional 156,733 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 703.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 129,346 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 113,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 264,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,158,000 after purchasing an additional 120,849 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.