BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC Invests $1.67 Million in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC bought a new position 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 bought 129,718 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,669,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AES by 190.3% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of AES by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in AES by 601.5% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,745 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 18,047.1% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,170 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 6,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AES by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,295 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 3,080 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AES Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:AES traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.17. The stock had a trading volume of 10,475,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,325,347. The AES Co. has a one year low of $9.86 and a one year high of $22.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.30 and a 200 day moving average of $13.00. The company has a market capitalization of $7.24 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.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.92%. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.54%.

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.