Rule changes make Alliant the better buy

Article Excerpt

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to bring in new rules forcing power plants to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. Ameren and Alliant are upgrading their facilities in response. Regulators will probably let them pass along most of the extra costs to customers in the form of higher rates. However, we feel Alliant is in a better position to handle the new regulations than Ameren. AMEREN CORP. $46 (New York symbol AEE; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 242.6 million; Market cap: $11.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ameren.com) provides power and natural gas to 3.3 million customers in Illinois and Missouri. A cool summer meant customers used less power for air conditioning in the quarter ended September 30, 2014. That cut Ameren’s earnings by 3.6%, to $294 million, or $1.20 a share. A year earlier, it earned $305 million, or $1.25. However, higher power rates increased revenue by 2.0%, to…