Freedom Investment Management Inc. Buys 2,505 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AES were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in AES by 67.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 332,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,273,000 after buying an additional 133,308 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd bought a new position in shares of AES in the fourth quarter worth about $489,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 4th quarter worth about $2,375,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in AES by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 74,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 23,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Price Performance

AES stock opened at $9.80 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.78. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The AES Co. has a one year low of $9.57 and a one year high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. The company 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.18%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of AES in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho decreased their target price 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, Barclays cut their price target on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.67.

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.