AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $12.52 and last traded at $12.59, with a volume of 8651395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. HSBC started coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AES presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

AES Price Performance

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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.01.

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

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.63%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.61%.

Institutional Trading of AES

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AES. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of AES during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 102.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in AES during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in AES by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.