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

Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 12,504 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,115,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,851 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AEE. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered Ameren from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $98.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,561,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,519,779. The company's fifty day moving average price is $91.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.24. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $68.60 and a 1-year high of $100.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.52%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.