AES (NYSE:AES) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Barclays

Barclays reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of AES (NYSE:AES) in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has a $15.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

AES has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on AES from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AES from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Argus raised AES from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AES from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AES currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.08.

AES Price Performance

AES stock opened at $15.73 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.84. The firm has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15. AES has a 12 month low of $9.46 and a 12 month high of $16.19.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. AES had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sound Shore Management Inc CT lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 32.3% during the second quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc CT now owns 8,067,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969,741 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in AES by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 7,882,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,730,000 after buying an additional 69,622 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 128.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,147,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,494,000 after buying an additional 4,021,385 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of AES by 975.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 3,086,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,466,000 after buying an additional 2,799,148 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of AES by 0.4% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,329,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,669 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Company Profile

AES Corporation is a global energy company focused on the generation and distribution of electricity across diversified markets. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, AES develops, builds and operates power plants and distribution systems that serve residential, industrial and commercial customers. The company’s portfolio includes thermal, renewable and battery energy storage facilities designed to deliver reliable and sustainable electricity solutions.

Through its subsidiaries, AES operates a balanced mix of power generation assets, including natural gas, coal and renewables such as solar and wind.