Ameren

Ameren’s capital allocation is primarily reinvestment into regulated infrastructure with constructive rate recovery. Dividend growth targets align with EPS growth and a 55 to 65 percent payout ratio, recently increased to an annualized 2.84 per share.

We view share issuance as the main drawback: management plans about 600 million per year of equity through 2029 and has forward sale agreements for roughly 12.2 million shares to be settled by year‑end 2026, which moderates per‑share compounding despite healthy underlying growth. M&A risk is low.

Project selection is disciplined and aligned to IRP and MISO LRTP opportunities. Overall, capital allocation is prudent for a regulated model but scores lower due to recurring dilution.