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

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Evercore ISI cut Ameren from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.50.

Ameren Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $71.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.58. Ameren has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $91.18.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 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 value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 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 $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 245.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 40,202 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $1,168,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Ameren by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,272,000 after purchasing an additional 36,611 shares during the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $473,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Ameren by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,637,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,549,000 after purchasing an additional 17,468 shares during the last quarter. 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.