The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Receives $18.80 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One 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. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.80.

AES has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America began coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. HSBC began coverage on AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

AES Trading Up 11.6 %

NYSE AES traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $11.59. 71,503,942 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,878,539. The business's 50 day moving average is $11.54 and its 200-day moving average is $14.59. AES has a 12-month low of $9.88 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.08%. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of AES in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,334,000. Gould Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 225,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,898,000 after acquiring an additional 55,619 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of AES by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,510 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AES by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,515,444 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,504,000 after acquiring an additional 101,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 760.4% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company's stock.

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.