AES (NYSE:AES) Price Target Cut to $21.00 by Analysts at Susquehanna

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $24.00 to $21.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "positive" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Susquehanna's price target points to a potential upside of 35.40% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of AES in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.38.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $15.51. 14,292,778 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,351,622. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.30. 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 has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.10. AES has a 1 year low of $14.68 and a 1 year high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. AES's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AES. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of AES by 11.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 77,641,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,392,110,000 after buying an additional 7,969,594 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in AES in the 1st quarter valued at about $123,272,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AES by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,725,232 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,608,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,929,523 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of AES in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,746,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of AES by 482.8% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,865,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.