Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Chairman Warner L. Baxter Sells 49,819 Shares

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) Chairman Warner L. Baxter sold 49,819 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.83, for a total transaction of $4,076,688.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 207,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,961,067.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $83.73 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $73.28 and a twelve month high of $99.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.87.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.07. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.50% and a net margin of 13.50%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 60.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameren

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Natixis raised its holdings in Ameren by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 77,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,884,000 after acquiring an additional 16,048 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Ameren by 71.1% in the 4th quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,024,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,913,000 after acquiring an additional 425,838 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in Ameren by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 325,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Ameren from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ameren from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ameren from $93.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.90.

About Ameren

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Ameren Corp. is a public utility holding company, which engages in the provision of electric and natural gas services. It operates through the following segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, Ameren Transmission, and Other. The Ameren Transmission segment consists of the aggregated electric transmission businesses of Ameren Illinois and Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI).