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

Key Points

• Ameren Corporation experienced a significant increase in options trading, with 2,984 call options purchased on Wednesday, marking a 2,268% increase compared to typical volume.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Ameren's rating from "sell" to "neutral" and raised the target price from $91.00 to $100.00, while the consensus rating for the stock is currently a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $104.33.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71, representing an annual yield of 2.9%, with the payment scheduled for September 30th.

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 2,984 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,268% compared to the typical daily volume of 126 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total transaction of $101,790.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $929,240.91. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter worth about $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 728.9% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 600.0% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 343 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.25.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $99.13. 2,010,017 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,305,630. The stock's fifty day moving average is $100.20 and its 200 day moving average is $98.26. The stock has a market cap of $26.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.80. Ameren has a 12 month low of $83.91 and a 12 month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.42%.

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.