AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $11.48 and last traded at $11.56, with a volume of 1212967 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AES shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AES currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

AES Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 47.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in AES during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in AES by 59.1% during 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. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of AES in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new position in shares of AES in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AES by 69.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

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.