Truist Financial Upgrades Ameren (NYSE:AEE) to “Strong-Buy”

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was upgraded by Truist Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

AEE has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.31.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE traded up $0.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $110.15. 81,286 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,692,851. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.52. Ameren has a 12-month low of $93.27 and a 12-month high of $115.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.76 and a 200-day moving average of $105.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEE. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Ameren by 285.5% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 6,080.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Company Profile

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.