Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ameren from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a sell rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $79.40.

Ameren Trading Down 0.3 %

Ameren stock opened at $71.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $91.18.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.33%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 218.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently 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.