The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Receives $19.30 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.30.

AES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on 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 started coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of AES by 59.1% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AES by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of AES by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its position in AES by 1.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in AES by 2.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 42,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES opened at $12.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. AES has a fifty-two week low of $11.95 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. AES’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AES will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.