Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $97.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.00% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AEE. UBS Group began coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Ameren Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $83.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,193,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,616,053. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.28. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $85.83. The firm has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ameren by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 204.3% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $283,111,000 after buying an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 106.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $177,644,000 after buying an additional 1,286,162 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,445,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,447,516,000 after acquiring an additional 802,714 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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