Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.30.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $110.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.45. Ameren has a 52 week low of $91.77 and a 52 week high of $112.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.57.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.Ameren’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,050,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 4.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,787,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $186,556,000 after purchasing an additional 79,763 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $1,097,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 255,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 119.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 77,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,070,000 after purchasing an additional 42,004 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ameren

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.