Analysts Set The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) PT at $19.30

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

Several brokerages have weighed in on AES. Barclays reduced their price objective on AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. HSBC started coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in AES by 18.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter worth $30,746,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in AES by 169.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348,195 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in AES by 30.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in AES during the third quarter worth about $17,390,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE AES opened at $12.40 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.31 and its 200-day moving average is $16.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00. AES has a one year low of $12.09 and a one year high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AES will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.68%. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

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.