AES (NYSE:AES) Reaches New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $12.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AES traded as low as $10.99 and last traded at $10.93, with a volume of 3421534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.44.

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

Institutional Trading of AES

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in AES by 5,143.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 76,977 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 75,509 shares during the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 34.6% during the third quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 760,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,261,000 after purchasing an additional 195,460 shares during the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in AES during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,375,000. M&G PLC boosted its holdings in AES by 12.7% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 6,511,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,235,000 after purchasing an additional 732,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in AES by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 406,443 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,231,000 after buying an additional 43,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company's stock.

AES Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.57.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This is a boost from AES's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.92%.

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.