California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,126,111 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 78,194 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.16% of AES worth $14,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AES by 190.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its stake in AES by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased 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 worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 6,136 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AES by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,978 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AES. Mizuho decreased their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. HSBC started coverage on AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.29.

AES Stock Up 9.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AES traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,451,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,212,308. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.35 and a 200-day moving average of $13.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.74, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The AES Co. has a 12-month low of $9.88 and a 12-month high of $22.21.

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

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. AES's payout ratio is presently 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.