Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Short Interest Up 11.8% in June

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,420,000 shares, a growth of 11.8% from the May 31st total of 3,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total transaction of $302,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 245.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after buying an additional 40,202 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,007,000 after purchasing an additional 12,431 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $1,168,000. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,849,000 after buying an additional 156,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Ameren by 83.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 264,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,158,000 after purchasing an additional 120,849 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ameren stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.42. The stock had a trading volume of 137,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,746,409. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.92. The firm has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Ameren has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $88.72.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AEE. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ameren from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.20.

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.