Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,770,000 shares, a decline of 11.2% from the October 15th total of 3,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ameren by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its stake in Ameren by 204.3% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,111,000 after buying an additional 2,569,897 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 106.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.79. 52,369 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,593,183. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.80. The stock has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $92.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given 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 an average price target of $87.80.

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.