The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on AES in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

AES Price Performance

AES opened at $13.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00. AES has a 1 year low of $12.24 and a 1 year high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. AES’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AES will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. This is an increase from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by 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.