Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Buys 2,211 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 13.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,211 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 108.1% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 227.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $85.88 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $89.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $85.81 and a 200 day moving average of $78.60.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren 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.