Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $104.50 and last traded at $104.05, with a volume of 72904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AEE. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ameren from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on Ameren and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.75.

Ameren Stock Up 0.3%

The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $100.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.38. The stock has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.47.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.42%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total transaction of $101,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,240.91. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 9.7% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 36,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the second quarter worth $258,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 24,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after buying an additional 3,174 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,598,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 353,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,937,000 after acquiring an additional 17,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.