Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Rating Increased to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was upgraded by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $100.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $91.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.82% from the company’s current price.

AEE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.64.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $95.40 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.78. Ameren has a 12-month low of $70.15 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 1st quarter worth $757,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.5% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 53,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,330,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 61.6% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 8,618 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 34,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,262,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,714,000 after buying an additional 61,695 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.