The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HSBC assumed coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of AES by 8.9% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 58,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AES by 21.5% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 11,828 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of AES by 6.7% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 61,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of AES by 21.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 216,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,804,000 after acquiring an additional 37,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AES by 12.8% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,098,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,875,000 after purchasing an additional 238,485 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Stock Down 2.6 %

AES opened at $11.71 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.11. AES has a 12 month low of $11.57 and a 12 month high of $22.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.176 dividend. This is an increase from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

AES Company 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.