Ameren Corporation (AEE) will raise its quarterly dividend by 4.0 percent to 51.5 cents per share in 2020. This follows a 4.3 percent increase to $0.495 per share in 2019 and will mark the utility holding company's 7th consecutive year of annual dividend increases.

The next dividend is payable December 31, 2020, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 9, 2020. The new annualized dividend rate of $2.06 per share yields 2.5% at a stock price of $82.05.

In the press release announcing this dividend hike the company also comments on this latest increase: "We are pleased to announce an increase in our fourth quarter 2020 dividend, which marks the seventh consecutive year we have increased our dividend," said Warner L. Baxter, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ameren Corporation. "This action reflects confidence in the outlook for our businesses and ability to achieve our long-term earnings and rate base growth plans. Future dividend decisions will be driven by earnings growth, cash flows and other business conditions."

Ameren Corp currently has a market cap of $20.3 billion and will pay an estimated $509 million in dividends to shareholders annually after this new increase. Ameren cut its dividend by 39.4 percent in 2009 and has since announced increases in 8 of the 11 following years with a maximum annual hike of 4.2 percent, announced in 2019.

Ameren Corporation is a utitilty company based in St. Louis. Ameren serves natural gas and electric customers through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric distribution and transmission service, as well as natural gas distribution service, while Ameren Missouri provides vertically integrated electric service and natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois develops regional electric transmission projects. Ameren became a public company in 1952 and has paid a dividend every year since 1998.