Short Interest in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Drops By 9.1%

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,320,000 shares, a decrease of 9.1% from the March 15th total of 4,750,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fox Hill Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Ameren by 10.8% during the first quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 17,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the first quarter worth approximately $67,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 15.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Ameren by 0.9% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 351,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Executive Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 200.0% during the first quarter. Executive Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 9,026 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.40.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $71.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,276,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,324. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $91.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.59 and a 200-day moving average of $73.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.33%.

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.