Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $2.60 Million in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 202,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,602,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in AES by 190.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in shares of AES by 93.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,136 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AES by 95.8% in the 4th 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, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in AES by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,978 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,803,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,262,512. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. 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 12-month low of $9.88 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.11.

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, 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 company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. AES's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AES shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Susquehanna cut their target price on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $10.00 price target (down from $15.00) on shares of AES in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.