Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Given New $86.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $86.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on AEE. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.90.

Ameren Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AEE opened at $93.81 on Friday. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $94.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $463,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ameren by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after buying an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,849,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.