Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $101.10 and last traded at $100.51, with a volume of 49838 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

Ameren Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $93.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.63%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1,732.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 96.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,250,000 after purchasing an additional 926,126 shares in the last quarter. 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.