AES (NYSE:AES) Downgraded by Mizuho to “Hold”

Mizuho cut shares of AES (NYSE:AES) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

AES has been the subject of a number of other reports. Argus raised shares of AES from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 price objective on AES in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on AES from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of AES in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AES has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

AES Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AES stock opened at $14.19 on Tuesday. AES has a twelve month low of $9.46 and a twelve month high of $17.65. The stock has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.22.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.13. AES had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 9.47%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is currently 43.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AES. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 14,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in shares of AES by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 32,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its position in shares of AES by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 28,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 17,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in AES by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AES this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus: AES reported $0.81 EPS vs. $0.68 expected and revenue slightly above estimates — evidence of improving margins and cash generation, a constructive fundamental datapoint for shareholders. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Deal framed as enabling accelerated clean?energy infrastructure growth and long?term investment by large infrastructure players — a strategic rationale that could be positive for AES’s projects and employees if the transaction closes. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Consortium press release: the definitive agreement values AES equity at $10.7B and enterprise value at ~$33.4B and cites a 40% premium to a long?ago VWAP; closing expected late?2026/early?2027 — informative on timing and structure but leaves execution/regulatory risk. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Local disruption: AES Indiana canceled a community open house citing threats amid local bill complaints — reputational/local relations item to monitor but not a material corporate finance driver yet. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market disappointment: the $15.00-per-share cash offer was below some investor expectations, triggering a sharp one?day selloff and widening the gap between current trading and takeover price because the deal closes far in the future. This is the main reason the stock is down. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/market pressure: Mizuho downgraded AES from “strong?buy” to “hold” and several shareholder?law firms have opened investigations into whether the board obtained a fair price — increased legal and rating headwinds that could sustain selling pressure. Read More. Read More.

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.