AES (NYSE:AES) Trading 5.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) shares were up 5.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $11.44 and last traded at $11.43. Approximately 3,130,089 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 15,698,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC started coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their target price on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AES from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.30.

AES Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.31.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in AES in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AES by 190.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of AES by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its position 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in AES by 760.4% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

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.