Ameren Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AEE)
by Amy Steele · The Cerbat GemAmeren Corporation (NYSE:AEE – Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 2,984 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,268% compared to the typical daily volume of 126 call options.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays set a $113.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.80.
Read Our Latest Research Report on AEE
Insider Activity
In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 198,973 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in Ameren by 70.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring 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 purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 728.9% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.
Ameren Stock Down 1.5%
AEE stock opened at $99.13 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $101.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.87. The company has a market capitalization of $26.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.58. Ameren has a 52 week low of $87.32 and a 52 week high of $106.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.07. Ameren had a net margin of 15.75% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 4.900-5.100 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Ameren Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 54.62%.
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.