Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,250,000 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the December 15th total of 3,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.89.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.31. 1,351,246 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,202,618. The company has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after acquiring an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,992,000 after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Ameren by 106.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.