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

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 2,984 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,268% compared to the average daily volume of 126 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.30.

Ameren Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $109.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. Ameren has a 1 year low of $91.77 and a 1 year high of $113.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.80.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Ameren by 285.5% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

About Ameren

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.