AES (NYSE:AES) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $11.57 and last traded at $11.71, with a volume of 14147063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AES. Hsbc Global Res raised AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price 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, HSBC assumed 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

AES Price Performance

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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00.

AES (NYSE:AES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. AES’s payout ratio is currently 48.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in AES by 59.1% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of AES in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AES by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.