The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.30.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho reduced their price target on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. HSBC began coverage on AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AES from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in AES during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in AES by 190.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in AES by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in AES by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in AES during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Price Performance

AES stock opened at $13.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. AES has a 52 week low of $9.88 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.28 and a 200-day moving average of $13.97.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 29.54%.

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.