Ameren Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AEE)

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 2,984 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,268% compared to the average daily volume of 126 call options.

Ameren Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $111.73. 435,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,764,017. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.04. Ameren has a 1 year low of $91.77 and a 1 year high of $113.64. The firm has a market cap of $30.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 53.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 285.5% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing 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 $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.30.

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.