The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,008,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 96,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of AES worth $25,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 190.3% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 18,047.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 6,136 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Trading Up 6.0 %

NYSE:AES opened at $13.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.06. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The AES Co. has a 1 year low of $9.88 and a 1 year high of $22.21. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America raised shares of AES from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. HSBC began coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.30.

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.