Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Price Target Lowered to $73.00 at Barclays

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Barclays from $74.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.73% from the company’s current price.

AEE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $71.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.56. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $91.18. The stock has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly 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). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 100,874.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,604,406,000 after acquiring an additional 74,200,015 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ameren by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,337,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,326,568,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790,342 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,051,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,700 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,302,326,000 after buying an additional 1,029,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 7,133.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,670,000 after buying an additional 947,011 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is 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.