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Ameren (AEE) to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Ameren Corporation (AEE - Free Report) is scheduled to release first-quarter 2021 results on May 11. In the last reported quarter, this utility delivered an earnings surprise of 6.98%.

However, in the trailing four quarters, the company came up with a negative earnings surprise of 1.17%, on average.

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.

Factors at Play

Ameren’s operational regions witnessed colder-than-normal temperatures during most of the first quarter. While the months of January and February received moderate-to-heavy snowfall in parts of its service territories, above-normal precipitation was witnessed in March. Such weather conditions are expected to have spurred electricity demand from the utility’s consumers, which in turn is expected to have boosted its revenues during the period under consideration.

Ameren Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Ameren Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Ameren Corporation price-eps-surprise | Ameren Corporation Quote

 

Further, in the month of January, Ameren Illinois secured rate hike approval for gas distribution. Such rate base growth must have also bolstered the company’s first-quarter revenues.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $1.54 billion, implying a 6.8% rise from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Such revenue growth expectations make us optimistic about the company’s potential of delivering earnings growth in the first quarter. Moreover, increased infrastructural investment along with disciplined cost management are also likely to have bolstered Ameren’s earnings in the soon-to-be-reported quarter.

However, the company’s service territories witnessed quite a handful of snowstorms and tornados during the first quarter, which might have damaged its infrastructure, thereby pushing up operating expenses. This in turn might had an adverse impact on the company’s bottom-line performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ameren’s earnings in the first quarter is pegged at 79 cents, suggesting 33.9% rise from the year-ago quarter’s reported number.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Ameren this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But this is not the case here.

Earnings ESP: Ameren has an Earnings ESP of -2.22%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Recent Utility Releases

DTE Energy Company (DTE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2021 operating earnings per share (EPS) of $2.44, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.16 by 13%.

American Electric Power Co., Inc. (AEP - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of $1.15, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23 by 6.5%.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents by 11.7%.

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