Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Takes Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in shares of AES during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of AES by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of AES by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the third quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company's stock.

AES Stock Down 5.3 %

NYSE:AES traded down $0.63 on Wednesday, hitting $11.12. 17,865,090 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,016,717. The company has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $11.09 and a 52 week high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from AES's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. AES's payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC started coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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, AES has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.30.

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.