Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,030,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 434,356 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.29% of AES worth $26,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in AES in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of AES by 59.1% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in AES during the third quarter valued at $63,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in AES by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Stock Performance

NYSE:AES opened at $10.23 on Wednesday. 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 AES Co. has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.11.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.176 dividend. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.88%. AES’s payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC started coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.