JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Ameren (NYSE:AEE) to Overweight

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Thursday. The firm currently has a $126.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.79% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AEE. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho set a $117.00 price target on Ameren in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.08.

Ameren Stock Down 0.2%

AEE stock opened at $108.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.50. Ameren has a 52-week low of $93.50 and a 52-week high of $115.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.20.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total value of $35,451.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,971.44. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Ameren by 22.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after acquiring an additional 6,772 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 6.3% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.