Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $115.59 and last traded at $115.0720, with a volume of 296340 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $113.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $119.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.31.

Ameren Stock Down 0.0%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 56.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEE. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Ameren by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after buying an additional 6,772 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 48.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.