Ameren

WAL-MART STORES INC. $57 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio: Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.5 billion; Market cap: $199.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart.com) had to temporarily shut down 13 of its stores in the Chinese city of Chongqing over charges that these outlets sold regular pork as higher-priced organic meat. The …read more »

Unusual weather can cause big swings in gas and electricity demand. That can have a major impact on the earnings of Ameren and Alliant. Even so, their regulated businesses face little competition, and will continue to give them plenty of steady cash flows for dividends. Still, only one is a buy right now.

AMEREN CORP. $30 (New York symbol AEE; Income …read more »

Ameren Corp., symbol AEE on New York, sells electricity and natural gas to 3.4 million customers in Illinois and Missouri.

In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the Wall Street stock’s earnings fell 36.8%, to $60.0 million, or $0.25 a share, from $95.0 million, or $0.40 a share, a year earlier. These figures exclude unusual items, mainly gains and losses …read more »

Ameren and Alliant are Midwestern utilities with long histories of steady dividend payments. We like both, but we prefer Alliant for new buying. That’s because it gets just 5% of its revenue from its unregulated businesses, compared to 25% for Ameren. This makes Alliant less vulnerable to unpredictable weather and volatile fuel prices.

AMEREN CORP. $29 (New York symbol AEE; Income …read more »

TIM HORTONS INC. $37 (New York symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 173.9 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 1.4%; WSSF Rating: Average) is selling half of its Maidstone Bakeries business to Aryzta AG of Switzerland. (Tim Hortons and Aryzta own the bakery through a joint venture.) Based in Brantford, Ontario, Maidstone supplies …read more »

AMEREN CORP. $24 (New York symbol AEE; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 238.2 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 6.4%; WSSF Rating: Average) sells electricity and natural gas to 3.4 million customers in Illinois and Missouri.

In the three months ended March 31, 2010, Ameren’s earnings fell 16.7%, to $95 million from $114 million a year …read more »

Income-seeking investors should look at other factors besides a stock’s dividend yield. That’s because high yield can sometimes be a danger sign rather than a bargain. For example, a stock’s yield could be high simply because its share price has dropped sharply (because you use share price to calculate yield).

Ameren has a higher dividend yield than Alliant. However, Ameren’s short-term …read more »

AMEREN CORP. $28 (New York symbol AEE; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 236.9 million; Market cap: $6.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 5.5%; WSSF Rating: Average) sells electricity and natural gas to 3.4 million customers in Illinois and Missouri.

In the third quarter of 2009, Ameren’s earnings rose 3.7%, to $255 million from $246 million a year earlier. However, …read more »

The recession and the slow pace of the recovery have hurt demand for electrical power at these two midwestern utilities. However, regulators will probably let them raise their rates to cover some of the shortfall. That should help them maintain their dividends and replace aging power plants. Still, we see only Alliant as a buy right now.

AMEREN CORP. $28 (New …read more »

WESTERN UNION CO. $20 (New York symbol WU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 701.6 million; Market cap: $14 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; WSSF Rating: Above Average) has provided money-transfer services to Cuba since 1999. Cubans living in the U.S. can send money to close relatives in Cuba at over 3,000 of Western Union’s U.S. locations. The company also …read more »