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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 2,984 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,268% compared to the average volume of 126 call options.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Colony Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $71.93 on Thursday. Ameren has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $91.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

Ameren Company Profile

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.