Sei Investments Co. Has $24.23 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Sei Investments Co. reduced its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 271,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,429 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.10% of Ameren worth $24,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of AEE opened at $98.86 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.82. The stock has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

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.