AES Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AES)

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 24,643 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 75% compared to the typical volume of 14,084 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in AES by 8.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in AES by 1.0% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 84,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners increased its position in AES by 3.9% during the third quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners now owns 29,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in AES by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in AES by 3.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AES. Barclays reduced their target price on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC began coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.80.

AES Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $10.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. AES has a 1 year low of $9.88 and a 1 year high of $22.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.59. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.76%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 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.