AES (NYSE:AES) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $21.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. AES traded as low as $14.50 and last traded at $14.55, with a volume of 716751 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.51.

AES has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on AES in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AES. CWM LLC boosted its position in AES by 2.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in AES by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in AES by 1.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 44,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 92.4% during the second quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 4.7% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 1.10. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.1725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.92%.

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.