AES (NYSE:AES) Now Covered by Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES (NYSE:AES) in a research note published on Monday. The brokerage issued an underperform rating and a $11.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna dropped their target price on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho cut their target price on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AES currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.22.

AES Stock Performance

AES stock opened at $13.16 on Monday. AES has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21. The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.89. 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 (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AES will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $0.1725 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.24%. AES’s payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AES. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of AES by 2.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in AES by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in AES by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 44,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AES by 92.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.