Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $628,000 Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 33.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing 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.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 218.2% in the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Ameren in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $70.33 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $91.18.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

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.