AES (NYSE:AES) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $10.29 and last traded at $10.40, with a volume of 1588395 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America started coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AES presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.80.

AES Stock Down 1.5 %

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 $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.08.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.61%.

Institutional Trading of AES

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new position in AES during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AES during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,602,000. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in AES by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 1,416,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,233,000 after acquiring an additional 571,947 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AES by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,895,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,862,000 after acquiring an additional 381,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannell & Spears LLC purchased a new position in AES during the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.