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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.80.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 493.0% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 18,064 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Ameren by 392.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 15,484 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the 2nd quarter worth $2,632,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Ameren by 137.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,407,000 after buying an additional 57,923 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter valued at $1,417,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $91.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. Ameren has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $92.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.72 and a 200-day moving average of $79.34. The company has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.