Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AMP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Ameriprise Financial from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $485.00 to $476.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $490.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $444.00 to $440.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $500.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $473.56.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

NYSE AMP opened at $502.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $445.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.44. Ameriprise Financial has a 12-month low of $306.63 and a 12-month high of $502.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.35.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $8.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.19. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 73.83% and a net margin of 18.64%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial will post 34.92 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP William Davies sold 8,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.07, for a total value of $3,846,009.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,834,881.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameriprise Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,844,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,685,436,000 after purchasing an additional 603,267 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $108,938,000. Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $98,742,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 504,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,584,000 after purchasing an additional 131,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 707,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,248,000 after purchasing an additional 111,973 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

Ameriprise Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services to individual and institutional clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Retirement & Protection Solutions, and Corporate & Other.