Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Stock Price

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $114.00 to $108.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 4.83% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AEE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Ameren from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ameren from $126.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $126.00 price target on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.92.

Ameren Trading Down 0.8%

AEE stock opened at $103.03 on Friday. Ameren has a 12 month low of $96.57 and a 12 month high of $118.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $108.56 and its 200 day moving average is $109.87. The company has a market capitalization of $28.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.53, for a total value of $26,171.44. Following the sale, the director owned 13,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,600.64. This represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total transaction of $35,402.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,340 shares in the company, valued at $3,522,796.20. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,073 shares of company stock worth $769,814. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the second quarter worth approximately $2,918,526,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the second quarter valued at approximately $578,254,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $253,519,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $245,881,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,155,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) is a regulated electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its operating companies, Ameren provides energy generation, transmission, distribution and related services to customers in Missouri and Illinois.

Ameren Missouri operates an integrated electric utility serving communities across Missouri and also provides natural gas distribution services in parts of the state. Ameren Illinois operates electric and natural gas distribution businesses serving customers throughout much of Illinois.