02.17.2009 10:10 am
So much for Ameren as a widows-and-orphans stock
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
There was a time when utility stocks were considered the most conservative of investments, suitable for even widows and orphans. That era is long gone, as Ameren shareholders are finding out this morning.
The stock market, reacting to Friday’s dividend cut , has marked Ameren shares down by 15 percent, which Bloomberg says is a record one-day decline for the stock.
If you’re both a shareholder and an Ameren customer, there’s a double dose of bad news. The company says more rate hikes are in the offing.
(3 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
To all those who say that Ameren has been rolling in dough, this should finally serve as a wakeup call. We have some of the lowest rates for electric in the country–I have friends who pay 2 or 3x more a month for their electric bills than me, and they have smaller houses. If we keep cutting Ameren down at the knees everytime they try and bring their rates up closer to the *average* they aren’t going to keep providing all that they do.
As it is, Ameren tries to be a good corporate citizen offering *many* jobs in the ST. Louis area. Think how much worse off you will be if they start laying off employees, who in turn can’t buy your companies products or services anymore. You won’t need your job then, either. What would you rather have happen: Pay $5 more a month so Ameren can earn closer to a “fair rate of return” or have no job to pay your $5 less/month bill?
All jobs are interdependent–if you make it so Ameren can’t afford their employees, you will make it so your company can’t afford you.
Eric - you are really Karen Foss aren’t you?
Get serious, these guys are making obscene profits. I personally do not care what people in the Northeast or West coast are paying for electricity. I live here for a number of reasons, one of them is low cost of living. If they can afford to pay an overly large dividend, maybe they are making too much money. Cut the dividend in half. How many $5 a month will that cover?
The dividend was high because they paid out 88% of their profits!
If you thought their profits were too high, you should have bought stock.
Oh, and Cuivre River (in st. charles county) charges nearly DOUBLE the rates of Ameren from October to May.
You folks in Missouri/Illinois are fortunate. The utility rates in my state, Texas, are much higher than what you have….you are all pampered by your regulatory agencies. Thanks goodness we do not have the ice storms
such as you had recently….we would have to pay for that sort of havoc in addition to our usual rates…bc
What would you rather have happen: Pay $5 more a month so Ameren can earn closer to a “fair rate of return” or have no job to pay your $5 less/month bill?
If it only 5 buck a month I’m cool with that, But last year when rates were raised in Illinois a 500 electric bill came in around 1500…..
so you better hope it only 5 Erik! And not 1000
Obama will get us the electricity for free… he is taking care of everything. Of course he will do it by closing the coal plant and then we will show those bad people at the electric company. Wait… your electric car will not work… oh no… i need to call the mesiah
Gary L. Rainwater Ameren Corp. Chairman, President, CEO 63 $2,307,797.00
Stocks owned 71,968
Warner L. Baxter Ameren Corp. Exec VP, CFO 104 $1,101,930.00
Stocks owned 28,739
Thomas R. Voss Ameren Corp. Exec VP, COO 111 $1,053,429.00
Stocks owned 34,981
Steven R. Sullivan Ameren Corp. Sr VP, Gen. Counsel, Secy 130 $831,953.00
Stocks owned 14,138
Scott A. Cisel Ameren Corp. Chariman, CEO,Pres.Of Cilco,Cips,IP 815,642.00
6 million for top 5 exc. at ameren ue not to metion their stock options.. See why they need to raise rate……..
All Ameren has to do is show the public how much those scrubbers are costing the company and you would understand the need for a rate hike. going green means you spend plenty of green to do so. If they let the worker ants go what do you think that will do for reliability.
Lost in most of the comments below is the fact that Ameren stock is held as a “safe and reliable” source of income by lots of less than wealthy folks in Missouri and Illinois. The dividend cut hurts those people, who have a lot more to lose than the six Ameren officers listed in a previous commnet. In many cases, it takes the life savings and independence of hard working seniors and cuts their barely adequate incomes by 38%.
These cuts also hurt the hard working Ameren employees that have worded hard to keep costs down and service reliable. It rips apart their retirement plans and hurts their families too.
So the next time you read about Ameren requesting a rate increase keep in mind the value that you get for your dollar. Realize that these types of cuts hurt the small investor much more than the big execs. Ameren isn’t just a group of big-wigs. Its also a lot of hard working folks and a lot of Grandmas living on that dividend. I’d like to see Mr. Rainwater and Baxter live on 39% less, but more importantly, I’d like to see my mother be self-sufficient and not worried about how she will live on 61% of what she thought she would receive from her bit of Ameren stock.