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

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 2,984 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,268% compared to the average volume of 126 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the second quarter worth $58,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $93.38 on Thursday. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $96.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.30.

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.