Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Lowered to $86.00 at Morgan Stanley

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $86.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.90.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $93.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. Ameren has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $94.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.25.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after acquiring an additional 334,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,992,000 after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its position in shares of Ameren by 204.3% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

About Ameren

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.