Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 202,387 The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 202,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,602,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AES by 190.3% during 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. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in AES by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in AES by 18,047.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 6,136 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AES by 95.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Stock Up 9.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $11.15 on Thursday. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $9.88 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.35.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America raised shares of AES from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.33.

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.