Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 28,043 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 830,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,043 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of AES worth $16,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AES. State Street Corp increased its position in AES by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,354,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960,546 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in AES during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,746,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in AES by 169.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,195 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in AES by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,838,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000,000 after purchasing an additional 892,500 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter worth about $17,390,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock opened at $12.75 on Friday. The AES Co. has a one year low of $12.24 and a one year high of $22.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.13 and its 200 day moving average is $16.65. The stock has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its 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 return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. AES’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AES shares. Susquehanna reduced their target price 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. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

About AES

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.