Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Decreases Stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY trimmed its position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,301 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in AES were worth $2,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in AES during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in AES by 59.1% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in AES during the third quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,509 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.80.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES opened at $10.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The AES Co. has a twelve month low of $10.33 and a twelve month high of $22.21.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. 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. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.67%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.61%.

AES 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.