CenterBook Partners LP Takes Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 89,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,158,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in AES by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,173,626 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $632,865,000 after acquiring an additional 8,027,426 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in AES by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,948,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,261,000 after purchasing an additional 6,238,087 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,083,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,964,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of AES by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 1,416,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,233,000 after purchasing an additional 571,947 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Stock Performance

Shares of AES traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $10.16. The company had a trading volume of 3,553,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,184,805. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.32 and a 200-day moving average of $13.09. The firm has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.06, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The AES Co. has a 12 month low of $9.88 and a 12 month high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.93%. AES's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AES. Barclays cut their target price on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of AES in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.67.

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.