The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Shares Sold by Lingohr Asset Management GmbH

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH decreased its stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 43.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,374 shares during the quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in AES were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of AES by 67.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 332,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,273,000 after purchasing an additional 133,308 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of AES by 5,143.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 76,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 75,509 shares during the period. Rock Point Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 34.6% in the third quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 760,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,261,000 after purchasing an additional 195,460 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd acquired a new position in AES during the fourth quarter worth about $489,000. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in AES during the fourth quarter worth about $2,375,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AES. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.30.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock opened at $12.98 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.03. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The AES Co. has a 12 month low of $9.88 and a 12 month high of $22.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

AES (NYSE:AES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.54%.

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.