Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 2,984 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,268% compared to the average volume of 126 call options.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $114.00 price objective (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price target on Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.00.
Get Our Latest Analysis on AEE
Institutional Trading of Ameren
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $1,115,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Ameren by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 3,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Ameren by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Ameren Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE AEE traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,349,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,089. The business's fifty day moving average is $97.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.
Ameren Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.
About Ameren
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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