The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Ameren (NYSE:AEE)

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren (NYSE:AEE) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a sell rating and a $73.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AEE. Evercore ISI cut shares of Ameren from an outperform rating to an in-line rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ameren from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Ameren from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $79.50.

Ameren Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AEE opened at $71.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.58. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $91.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 61.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $769,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 114,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,724,000 after buying an additional 4,148 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Ameren by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 272,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,526,000 after buying an additional 8,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Company Profile

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.