Ameren Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AEE)

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 2,984 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,268% compared to the typical volume of 126 call options.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEE. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter worth $1,050,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,787,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $186,556,000 after purchasing an additional 79,763 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $1,097,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 255,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,505,000 after buying an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 119.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 77,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,070,000 after buying an additional 42,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $104.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Ameren has a twelve month low of $91.77 and a twelve month high of $106.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.17 and a 200-day moving average of $101.83.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.07. Ameren had a net margin of 15.75% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ameren from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.60.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.