Ameren (NYSE:AEE) PT Lowered to $73.00 at Barclays

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $74.00 to $73.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AEE. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a sell rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameren from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ameren from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $72.51 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $91.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.33%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the first quarter worth approximately $769,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 3.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 114,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,148 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Ameren by 3.1% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 272,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,526,000 after acquiring an additional 8,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.