Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires 134,481 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 34.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 519,867 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 134,481 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC owned 0.07% of AES worth $6,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in AES by 3.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 288,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,790,000 after buying an additional 8,294 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in AES by 87.1% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 136,342 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,735,000 after acquiring an additional 63,457 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AES by 3.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in AES during the 3rd quarter valued at about $139,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AES by 12.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,930,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $58,794,000 after buying an additional 333,154 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES Stock Performance

AES stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.17. The stock had a trading volume of 10,475,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,325,347. The stock's 50 day moving average is $11.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.00. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 7.06, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $9.86 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES's payout ratio is 29.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $10.00 price target (down from $15.00) on shares of AES in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.67.

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.