Empower Advisory Group LLC Acquires 439,493 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,961,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 439,493 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in AES were worth $50,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in AES during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of AES by 59.1% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AES by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of AES in the 4th quarter worth $95,000. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:AES opened at $9.95 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.89. The AES Co. has a one year low of $9.90 and a one year high of $22.21. The firm has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s payout ratio is 48.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AES. Bank of America initiated coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna dropped their target price 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. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AES currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.80.

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.