Ameren Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AEE)

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 2,984 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,268% compared to the typical volume of 126 call options.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 25.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in Ameren by 204.3% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $283,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 106.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $177,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,447,516,000 after acquiring an additional 802,714 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its position in shares of Ameren by 192.6% in the second quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,103,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $78,475,000 after purchasing an additional 726,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AEE traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $88.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,995,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,606,604. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $88.90. The firm's 50 day moving average is $84.48 and its 200-day moving average is $77.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus raised Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.80.

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.