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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.20.

Ameren Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $104.12 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.34. The stock has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.58. Ameren has a 12-month low of $91.77 and a 12-month high of $106.73.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.07. Ameren had a net margin of 15.75% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 4.900-5.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.44, for a total value of $659,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 198,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,183,821.12. This trade represents a 3.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 1.3% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 7,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co raised its position in Ameren by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 14,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust raised its position in Ameren by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 1,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.