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

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

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. now owns 5,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.89.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,351,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,202,618. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.47. Ameren has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $95.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.48.

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.