Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $553.82 and last traded at $547.9550, with a volume of 53898 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $545.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $467.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised Ameriprise Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $471.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $636.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.33.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $49.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $484.62 and its 200 day moving average is $476.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.81 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.87 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 64.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 11,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $548.95, for a total transaction of $6,045,037.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,609 shares in the company, valued at $3,079,060.55. The trade was a 66.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider William Jerryl Williams sold 8,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.35, for a total value of $4,428,063.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $3,656,793. This trade represents a 54.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 34,571 shares of company stock valued at $18,227,419 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,420,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,171,360,000 after buying an additional 18,879 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $742,438,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,193,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,083,000 after buying an additional 13,172 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 84.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,455,000 after acquiring an additional 496,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,024,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,387,000 after acquiring an additional 19,731 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm provides a range of advice-based wealth management, asset management and insurance products to individual and institutional clients. Its business model centers on delivering financial planning and investment advice through a network of financial advisors alongside proprietary product offerings designed to meet retirement, protection and accumulation needs.

Core products and services include comprehensive financial planning and advisory services, managed investment portfolios, retirement planning solutions, annuities and life insurance products.