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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 2,984 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,268% compared to the typical daily volume of 126 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Ameren by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,250,000 after purchasing an additional 926,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $99.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $98.65 and its 200-day moving average is $94.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Equities 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.33.

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.