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

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 35.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,923 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $257,000. Powers Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $226,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Ameren by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 129,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,346,000 after buying an additional 8,540 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 77.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $87.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $89.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.89.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results 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. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 61.61%.

Ameren Company 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.