Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $551.99 and last traded at $549.9870, with a volume of 134520 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $538.01.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AMP. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $467.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Ameriprise Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $636.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gerard P. Smyth sold 6,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.52, for a total transaction of $2,955,612.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,883,789.56. The trade was a 50.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.83, for a total value of $558,996.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,934,729. This represents a 16.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,559 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,382. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,420,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,360,000 after buying an additional 18,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $742,438,000. Boston Partners grew its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,193,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,172 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ameriprise Financial by 84.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,455,000 after acquiring an additional 496,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 2.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,024,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,387,000 after purchasing an additional 19,731 shares during the period. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $48.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.81 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $4.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.87 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 64.19%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 45.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.40%.

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm provides a range of advice-based wealth management, asset management and insurance products to individual and institutional clients. Its business model centers on delivering financial planning and investment advice through a network of financial advisors alongside proprietary product offerings designed to meet retirement, protection and accumulation needs.

Core products and services include comprehensive financial planning and advisory services, managed investment portfolios, retirement planning solutions, annuities and life insurance products.