Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 245.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after buying an additional 40,202 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,168,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,272,000 after buying an additional 36,611 shares during the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth approximately $473,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.1% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,637,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,549,000 after buying an additional 17,468 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $70.33 on Wednesday. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $91.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $71.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.