AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $12.52 and last traded at $12.59, with a volume of 8651395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC initiated coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.30.

AES Stock Up 4.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.91.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.41%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in AES during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in AES in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in AES by 59.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of AES by 102.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AES in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

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.