Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,931,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 430,109 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 13.35% of AES worth $1,221,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AES. Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of AES by 154.7% during the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 41,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 25,348 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of AES by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 519,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,692,000 after purchasing an additional 38,964 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 526.5% during the fourth quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 91,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 77,203 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of AES by 350.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 324,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 252,744 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in AES by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,784,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,968,000 after purchasing an additional 246,046 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AES from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AES presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.63.

AES Trading Down 0.4 %

AES opened at $12.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.34 and its 200-day moving average is $13.88. 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 AES Co. has a 52-week low of $9.88 and a 52-week high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.65%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.