AES (NYSE:AES) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) shares hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $12.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AES traded as low as $10.99 and last traded at $10.93, with a volume of 3421534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.44.

AES has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of AES by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AES by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of AES by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in shares of AES by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 84,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners grew its stake in shares of AES by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners now owns 29,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Stock Down 4.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.57, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.63. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 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 firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.46%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.92%.

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.