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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,228,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 595.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $87.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.24. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $88.00.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. Ameren’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

About Ameren

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.