Romano Brothers AND Company Acquires Shares of 2,331 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Romano Brothers AND Company bought a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $88.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.82. The firm has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $89.54. 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 (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.80.

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.