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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $72.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Ameren has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $91.18. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 218.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.