Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 856,500 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its position in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 61.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 530,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 856,500 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.07% of AES worth $6,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in AES by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew 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 buying an additional 6,136 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AES by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,295 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 3,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,978 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company's stock.

AES Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AES traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $10.26. 2,402,144 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,372,355. The firm's 50 day moving average is $11.29 and its 200-day moving average is $12.74. 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 52 week low of $9.57 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.86%. AES's payout ratio is 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on AES shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased 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. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.71.

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.