AES (NYSE:AES) Upgraded at Bank of America

AES (NYSE:AES) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $13.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $11.00. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.28% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AES presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

AES Price Performance

NYSE AES opened at $11.18 on Tuesday. AES has a 12-month low of $9.88 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.51 and its 200-day moving average is $14.52. The company has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of AES by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,173,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $632,865,000 after purchasing an additional 8,027,426 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AES by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,354,000 after buying an additional 5,960,546 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of AES by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,571,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,499,000 after buying an additional 7,519,129 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,895,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,862,000 after acquiring an additional 381,761 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AES by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,948,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,261,000 after acquiring an additional 6,238,087 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.