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

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 2,984 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,268% compared to the average 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 stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Ameren by 285.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 6,080.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.45.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $110.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.52. Ameren has a 52 week low of $91.77 and a 52 week high of $113.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $108.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 56.07%.

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.