AES (NYSE:AES) Earns Underperform Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AES (NYSE:AES) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning. The brokerage issued an underperform rating and a $11.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AES. Barclays boosted their price objective on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho decreased their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AES currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES opened at $13.00 on Monday. 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 cap of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 1.10. AES has a 12 month low of $12.53 and a 12 month high of $22.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.79.

AES (NYSE:AES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AES will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AES. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AES by 92.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of AES in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of AES by 102.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in AES during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.