Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Ameren (NYSE:AEE)

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 218.2% during the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 117.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $72.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $91.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.74 and its 200 day moving average is $73.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.33%.

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.