AES Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AES)

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 24,643 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 75% compared to the typical volume of 14,084 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on AES shares. Susquehanna lowered 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. Barclays decreased their target price on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. HSBC began coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AES currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in AES during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in AES by 190.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in AES by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in shares of AES by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of AES by 760.4% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,958 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AES Stock Performance

Shares of AES stock opened at $10.41 on Friday. AES has a 12-month low of $9.88 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is currently 48.61%.

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.