The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.63.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of AES from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

AES Stock Performance

NYSE AES opened at $12.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. AES has a twelve month low of $9.88 and a twelve month high of $22.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.88.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.65%. AES’s payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in AES in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of AES by 190.3% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in shares of AES by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in AES by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in AES by 760.4% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 2,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.