BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $21.57 Million Stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 20.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,075,332 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 283,825 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.15% of AES worth $21,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AES by 92.4% in the second quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in AES during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in AES by 102.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in AES during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in AES by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.04. The stock had a trading volume of 7,963,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,750,288. The company's fifty day moving average is $16.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $12.53 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.10.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AES shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AES in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AES presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.22.

AES 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.