AES (NYSE:AES) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Earnings Beat

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 4,444,708 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the previous session's volume of 8,159,581 shares.The stock last traded at $15.44 and had previously closed at $16.32.

The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 6.07%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. AES's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.1725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. AES's payout ratio is 47.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AES shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on AES in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AES. CWM LLC lifted its stake in AES by 2.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of AES by 59.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in AES by 1.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 44,433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in AES by 4.7% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,185 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.29.

About AES

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.