AES (NYSE:AES) Sees Strong Trading Volume on Earnings Beat

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. Approximately 4,444,708 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the previous session’s volume of 8,159,581 shares.The stock last traded at $15.44 and had previously closed at $16.32.

The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. AES’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS.

AES Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AES shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on AES in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in AES by 2.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in AES by 59.1% during the 3rd 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. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of AES by 1.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 44,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 92.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in AES by 4.7% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.07.

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.