AES (NYSE:AES) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $13.27 and last traded at $13.34, with a volume of 6165300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.38.

AES Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.20.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. AES’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in AES by 92.4% during the second quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of AES in the second quarter worth $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 59.1% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of AES by 102.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AES in the second quarter worth $33,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AES Company Profile

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market.