Ameren Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AEE)

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Ameren by 1.5% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.7% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.89.

Ameren Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $90.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ameren has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $95.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.47.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

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.