AES (NYSE:AES) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at HSBC

Analysts at HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AES (NYSE:AES) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. HSBC’s target price points to a potential upside of 27.34% from the company’s previous close.

AES has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America began coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AES has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

AES Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $13.35 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.12. AES has a 52-week low of $12.53 and a 52-week high of $22.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.01.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The business 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 for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AES will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of AES by 12.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,930,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,794,000 after purchasing an additional 333,154 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in AES during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $139,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in AES by 3.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of AES in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Gould Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AES during the third quarter worth approximately $3,402,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.