Barclays Cuts AES (NYSE:AES) Price Target to $12.00

AES (NYSE:AES) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $17.00 to $12.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.80.

AES Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $11.16 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.54. AES has a fifty-two week low of $10.81 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.00.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 48.61%.

Institutional Trading of AES

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in AES by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 15,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of AES by 67.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 332,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,273,000 after purchasing an additional 133,308 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of AES by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the fourth quarter worth approximately $303,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in AES by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.