AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America started coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. HSBC assumed coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AES presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

AES Price Performance

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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.99. The stock has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00.

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

AES Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.97%. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s payout ratio is 48.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in AES by 161.8% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 107,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after buying an additional 66,145 shares in the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AES by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 760,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,261,000 after acquiring an additional 195,460 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC lifted its stake in shares of AES by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 6,511,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,235,000 after purchasing an additional 732,457 shares during the period. Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in AES in the fourth quarter worth $2,375,000. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in AES by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 406,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,231,000 after purchasing an additional 43,792 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.