Xponance Inc. Trims Holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Xponance Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 290,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,664 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in AES were worth $5,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AES. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of AES in the 4th quarter worth approximately $863,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in shares of AES by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 93,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 5,569 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AES by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 60,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,170,000 after buying an additional 3,536 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of AES by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 213,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,104,000 after buying an additional 57,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 4th quarter worth approximately $280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock opened at $16.41 on Friday. The AES Co. has a one year low of $11.43 and a one year high of $24.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.47 and its 200 day moving average is $16.65. The stock has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.42, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. AES had a return on equity of 38.76% and a net margin of 2.12%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. AES’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.1725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 209.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on AES from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on AES from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho started coverage on AES in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.13.

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.