Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 803,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,902 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AES were worth $10,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in AES in the 4th quarter worth about $95,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in AES by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in AES in the 4th quarter worth about $129,000. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Stock Up 11.6 %

Shares of AES opened at $11.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.59. 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 AES Co. has a 1 year low of $9.88 and a 1 year high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.08%. AES’s payout ratio is currently 48.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AES. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho dropped 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. Bank of America began coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna cut their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AES currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.80.

AES 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.