AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 12-Month Low - Here's Why

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $10.29 and last traded at $10.40, with a volume of 1588395 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AES has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.80.

AES Stock Down 2.1 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This is an increase from AES's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew 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 during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AES by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $775,354,000 after buying an additional 5,960,546 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AES by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,895,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $216,862,000 after purchasing an additional 381,761 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AES by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,948,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,261,000 after buying an additional 6,238,087 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AES by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,879,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $88,536,000 after acquiring an additional 185,020 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company's stock.

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.