Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on AES (NYSE:AES)

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 18,306 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 26% compared to the average volume of 14,475 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AES shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.80.

AES Stock Up 11.6 %

AES stock opened at $11.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.54 and a 200 day moving average price 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 has a 12 month low of $9.88 and a 12 month high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is currently 48.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AES. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 8.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in AES by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 84,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Live Oak Investment Partners raised its stake in shares of AES by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners now owns 29,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of AES by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AES by 3.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.