AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $11.48 and last traded at $11.56, with a volume of 1212967 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

AES Trading Down 3.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

AES (NYSE:AES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AES’s payout ratio is presently 47.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in AES during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in AES by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares in 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.