AES (NYSE:AES) Trading 5.7% Higher – Here’s What Happened

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s share price traded up 5.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $13.90 and last traded at $13.79. 4,911,956 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 9,051,985 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Susquehanna dropped their target price on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on AES in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

AES Stock Up 3.3 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.01.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in AES during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of AES by 102.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

About AES

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.