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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 2,984 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,268% compared to the typical daily volume of 126 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,750 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 163.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 514 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,686,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Ameren by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 65,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,811,000 after acquiring an additional 2,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock traded up $0.50 on Thursday, reaching $87.11. 1,662,354 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,579,191. Ameren has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $89.54. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $85.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.