AES (NYSE:AES) Reaches New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $12.15 and last traded at $12.17, with a volume of 6268582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AES shares. Susquehanna lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of AES in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.30.

AES Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.25.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. AES’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.73%. This is an increase from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 48.61%.

Institutional Trading of AES

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of AES by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 58,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 4,799 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AES by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 11,828 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in AES by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 61,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in AES by 21.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 216,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,804,000 after purchasing an additional 37,684 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AES by 12.8% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,098,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,875,000 after buying an additional 238,485 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

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.