Ameren Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:AEE)

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 2,984 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 2,268% compared to the average volume of 126 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 163.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 65,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,811,000 after buying an additional 2,424 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $86.61 on Thursday. Ameren has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $89.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.33. The company has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.80.

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.