Storms won’t damage their dividends

Article Excerpt

Tornadoes and other severe storms recently brought down power lines and caused other damage for these two Midwestern power companies. The extra repair costs will weigh on their earnings. However, regulators typically let utilities recoup these unusual costs through higher power rates. That will let them maintain their current dividends. AMEREN CORP. $34 (New York symbol AEE; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 242.6 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ameren.com) sells power and natural gas to 3.3 million customers in Illinois and Missouri. The company is selling its energy marketing business and five of its non-regulated coal-fired power plants in Illinois to Dynegy Inc. (New York symbol DYN). It aims to complete the sale in the fourth quarter of 2013. Ameren’s unregulated power plants supply 20% of its revenue. However, power demand has fallen in Illinois, and Ameren is paying more to comply with stricter environmental regulations. That has cut these…