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

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $12.15 and last traded at $12.17, with a volume of 6268582 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AES. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna cut their target price on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

AES Trading Down 5.1 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.25. 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 capitalization of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.73%. AES’s payout ratio is 48.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AES by 18.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $775,354,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960,546 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,513,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,125,000 after acquiring an additional 181,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AES by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,694,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,286,000 after purchasing an additional 82,956 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC increased its position in AES by 12.7% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 6,511,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,235,000 after purchasing an additional 732,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in AES by 30.3% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,838,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000,000 after purchasing an additional 892,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.