WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $3.91 Million Stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lessened its stake in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 303,880 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,842 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings in AES were worth $3,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AES. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AES by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $775,354,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960,546 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in AES by 169.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,195 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in AES by 30.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,838,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $77,000,000 after acquiring an additional 892,500 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of AES during the third quarter worth approximately $17,390,000. Finally, M&G PLC lifted its position in AES by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 6,511,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,235,000 after acquiring an additional 732,457 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AES. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.80.

AES Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AES traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $10.41. 10,033,216 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,476,716. The AES Co. has a 1-year low of $9.88 and a 1-year high of $22.21. The company's 50-day moving average price is $11.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from AES's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES's payout ratio is 48.61%.

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.