Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,639,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $33,964,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.37% of AES as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in AES by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in AES by 18,047.1% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,170 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 6,136 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AES by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,295 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 3,080 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of AES during the third quarter valued at approximately $139,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of AES traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,765,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,388,186. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The company's 50-day moving average is $11.29 and its 200-day moving average is $12.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The AES Co. has a 52-week low of $9.57 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.67.

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.