This is Why Ameren (AEE) is a Great Dividend Stock
Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
Ameren in Focus
Ameren (AEE) is headquartered in St Louis, and is in the Utilities sector. The stock has seen a price change of 0.61% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.59 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.64%. In comparison, the Utility - Electric Power industry's yield is 3.12%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.45%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.36 is up 7.3% from last year. In the past five-year period, Ameren has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.14%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Ameren's payout ratio is 57%, which means it paid out 57% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for AEE for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $4.05 per share, with earnings expected to increase 5.47% from the year ago period.
Bottom Line
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, AEE is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).
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