Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Raises Holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 431,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 66,335 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of AES worth $7,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AES. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 124,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 2,273 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in AES by 735.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 617,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,070,000 after purchasing an additional 543,464 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AES during the 1st quarter valued at $1,235,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AES by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 839,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,049,000 after buying an additional 140,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AES by 178.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 689,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,369,000 after acquiring an additional 442,184 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $18.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 1.07. The AES Co. has a 1-year low of $11.43 and a 1-year high of $22.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. AES had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 32.74%. AES’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AES. Seaport Res Ptn cut AES from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AES from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

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.