The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Stake Decreased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,005,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 88,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of AES worth $35,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AES. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of AES during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Glassman Wealth Services increased its position in AES by 186.1% during the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of AES by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AES in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of AES by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AES. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of AES in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of AES from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on AES from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.88.

AES Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AES traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $17.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,959,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,056,795. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.94. The AES Co. has a 52-week low of $11.43 and a 52-week high of $22.60. The stock has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 1.09.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. AES had a return on equity of 36.23% and a net margin of 4.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.83%.

AES 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.