Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 2,057 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AES were worth $901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AES shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho reduced their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.80.

AES Trading Down 4.9 %

NYSE:AES opened at $10.23 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.11. The AES Co. has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99.

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.88%. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.61%.

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.