The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Stock Holdings Increased by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 67.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 332,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 133,308 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in AES were worth $4,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AES. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of AES by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,516 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,766,000 after buying an additional 24,764 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter valued at about $567,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 946.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 19,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 17,732 shares during the period. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 19,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AES. Bank of America began coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC began coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna lowered 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AES has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.80.

AES Stock Performance

Shares of AES traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.95. The stock had a trading volume of 18,455,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,543,257. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 6.91, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $12.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.99. 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 AES Co. has a fifty-two week low of $9.90 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This is an increase from AES's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.08%. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.61%.

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.