10,294 Shares in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in AES by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 57.8% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 35.2% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of AES by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of AES by 267.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AES. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AES from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Argus restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of AES in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of AES in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of AES from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.13.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock opened at $17.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.42, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.77. The AES Co. has a 12 month low of $11.43 and a 12 month high of $23.81. The company has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of 51.90 and a beta of 1.08.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. AES had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 38.76%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. AES’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 209.10%.

AES Profile

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.