Apollon Wealth Management LLC Invests $1.12 Million in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,115,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after buying an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after acquiring an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 0.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,992,000 after acquiring an additional 39,300 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Ameren by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock opened at $97.05 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $97.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $91.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.83.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren 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.