Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Short Interest Up 51.5% in September

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,650,000 shares, a growth of 51.5% from the August 31st total of 2,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Ameren Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $86.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.91. Ameren has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $87.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Ameren by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 183,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,273,000 after acquiring an additional 16,269 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 71,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,175,000 after buying an additional 3,192 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth about $322,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AEE. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.33.

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.