AES (NYSE:AES) Sets New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $11.48 and last traded at $11.56, with a volume of 1212967 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AES. Susquehanna lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. HSBC initiated coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Bank of America started coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.30.

AES Price Performance

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 company's 50-day moving average is $12.77 and its 200-day moving average is $15.71. The stock has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.00.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. AES's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from AES's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.06%. AES's payout ratio is 47.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 worth $775,354,000 after acquiring an additional 5,960,546 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AES by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,513,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $330,125,000 after buying an additional 181,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AES by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,694,239 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $134,286,000 after buying an additional 82,956 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 6,511,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $130,235,000 after buying an additional 732,457 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of AES by 30.3% during 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 period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.