Morgan Stanley Trims Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Target Price to $72.00

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its target price lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $76.00 to $72.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 2.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AEE. Barclays raised Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.20.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $70.14 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.12. The firm has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $88.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 81,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 6,379 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 28,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,430,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $181,867,000 after purchasing an additional 29,921 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $299,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.