Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Short Interest Up 143.3% in May

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,490,000 shares, an increase of 143.3% from the April 30th total of 3,900,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AEE shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,849,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Ameren by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,161 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 22,630 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,685 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of AEE traded up $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $97.42. 1,887,167 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,557,910. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.50. The stock has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. Ameren has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.97%.

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.