Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,250,000 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the December 15th total of 3,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Ameren Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AEE traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.31. 1,351,246 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,202,618. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The company has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm's 50 day moving average is $90.91 and its 200-day moving average is $85.47.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $44,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.89.

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.

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