Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 190,596 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 664.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 190,596 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in AES were worth $4,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AES by 92.4% during 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. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in AES in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. 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. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of AES by 102.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in AES in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AES traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $13.16. 17,643,574 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,964,052. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 1.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $16.85 and its 200 day moving average is $17.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The AES Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AES shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AES presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.22.

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.