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

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 2,984 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,268% compared to the typical daily volume of 126 call options.

Ameren Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE AEE opened at $104.12 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $101.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.58. Ameren has a one year low of $91.77 and a one year high of $106.73.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped 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. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Ameren to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.20.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.44, for a total transaction of $659,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 198,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,183,821.12. The trade was a 3.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 70.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 285.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Ameren by 728.9% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.