Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on AES (NYSE:AES)

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 24,643 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 75% compared to the average daily volume of 14,084 put options.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock traded down $0.41 on Monday, hitting $11.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,008,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,107,001. 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 fifty day moving average price of $11.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.52. AES has a 52-week low of $9.88 and a 52-week high of $22.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America began coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. HSBC began coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. 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 given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AES in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,627,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of AES by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,173,626 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $632,865,000 after purchasing an additional 8,027,426 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of AES by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,571,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $367,499,000 after purchasing an additional 7,519,129 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in AES by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,948,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,261,000 after purchasing an additional 6,238,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in AES by 18.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $775,354,000 after buying an additional 5,960,546 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.