Investors Purchase Large Volume of Ameren Call Options (NYSE:AEE)

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 2,984 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,268% compared to the average volume of 126 call options.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $70.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.80 and a 200-day moving average of $72.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $88.72.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. Ameren’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total transaction of $302,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,318,410.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total transaction of $302,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,318,410.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,447,516,000 after purchasing an additional 802,714 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Ameren by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593,638 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,849,000 after purchasing an additional 156,733 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in Ameren by 204.3% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569,897 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,877,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,836,000 after acquiring an additional 23,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ameren from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.20.

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.