Here's Why AEE Stock Deserves a Place in Your Portfolio Right Now

Core Insights - Ameren (AEE) is focusing on systematic investments in infrastructure to enhance service reliability, planning to invest up to $26.3 billion from 2025 to 2029 [1][10] - The company is emphasizing the expansion of its nuclear power portfolio, which is expected to contribute to its growth strategy [1][8] Growth Outlook - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEE's 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased by 0.60% to $4.99 over the past 60 days [3] - Revenue for 2025 is projected at $8.85 billion, indicating a growth of 16.15% from the 2024 reported figure [3] - AEE's long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 8.01% [3] - The company has beaten earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters, with an average surprise of 0.22% [3] Return to Shareholders - AEE has been consistently increasing shareholder value through dividends, currently paying a quarterly dividend of 71 cents per share, which annualizes to $2.84 [4] - The current dividend yield stands at 2.71%, outperforming the Zacks S&P 500 composite average of 1.11% [4] Investment and Growth Focus - AEE has secured power supply contracts for approximately 3 GW of capacity, driven by the increasing demand from the data center industry, AI, and cloud computing [5] - The company is investing in clean energy infrastructure, including wind and solar projects, to enhance its emission-free generation capabilities [6] - AEE plans to add 2,700 MW of renewable generation capacity by 2030 and a total of 4,200 MW by 2035, with estimated investments of $6 billion and $9 billion respectively [7] - The company also aims to strengthen grid reliability through battery storage, planning to install 1,000 MW by 2030 and 1,400 MW by 2035, translating to investments of about $1.5 billion and $2 billion respectively [7] Nuclear Operations - AEE intends to extend the operational license of its Callaway Energy Center nuclear facility beyond 2044 and anticipates adding about 1,500 MW of new nuclear capacity by 2040 [8] Financial Metrics - AEE's return on equity (ROE) is currently at 10.92%, which is higher than the industry average of 9.95% [11] - The times interest earned (TIE) ratio at the end of Q3 2025 was 3.0, indicating effective management of long-term debt obligations [12] Stock Performance - Over the past year, AEE's shares have increased by 13.73%, although this lags behind the industry's growth of 20.2% [13]