Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Sells 1,008 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. decreased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,008 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $83,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $98.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $68.60 and a 1-year high of $100.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $91.91 and its 200 day moving average is $88.24.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Ameren

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.