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

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.38.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AES shares. Susquehanna decreased their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on AES in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of AES by 25.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 62,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 12,510 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of AES by 99.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 64,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 32,272 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AES during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,268,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AES by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,725,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,608,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,929,523 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AES during the first quarter valued at approximately $189,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $13.97 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.10. AES has a 12-month low of $13.27 and a 12-month high of $22.21. 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 (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. AES’s payout ratio is 47.92%.

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.