Zacks Research Has Optimistic Outlook of AES FY2024 Earnings

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research upped their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of AES in a note issued to investors on Thursday, December 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.94 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $1.93. The consensus estimate for AES’s current full-year earnings is $1.95 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for AES’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.39 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.42 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.75 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.08 EPS.

AES (NYSE:AES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. HSBC assumed coverage on AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.30.

AES Stock Performance

Shares of AES stock opened at $13.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. AES has a 12-month low of $12.24 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.01.

AES Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of AES

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AES. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AES by 18.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,354,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960,546 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,746,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AES by 169.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,002,000 after buying an additional 1,348,195 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in AES by 30.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,838,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000,000 after acquiring an additional 892,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in AES in the third quarter worth approximately $17,390,000. 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.