AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

The AES Co. (NYSE:AESGet Free Report)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $12.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AES traded as low as $10.99 and last traded at $10.93, with a volume of 3421534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.44.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America initiated coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AES currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.80.

Read Our Latest Report on AES

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AES by 18.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,354,000 after buying an additional 5,960,546 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in AES by 169.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,195 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of AES by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,838,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000,000 after purchasing an additional 892,500 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,390,000. Finally, M&G PLC increased its holdings in AES by 12.7% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 6,511,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,235,000 after buying an additional 732,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.63 and its 200 day moving average is $15.54.

AES (NYSE:AESGet Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.61%.

AES Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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