Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ameren from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ameren from $126.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $106.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $110.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.91. Ameren has a 52 week low of $96.57 and a 52 week high of $118.32. The company has a market capitalization of $29.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.53.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Ameren had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameren will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 52.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total transaction of $35,451.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,557,971.44. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total transaction of $708,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 199,689 shares in the company, valued at $21,758,113.44. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV lifted its holdings in Ameren by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV now owns 4,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. grew its holdings in Ameren by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 2,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 1.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 19.4% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.