AES (NYSE:AES) Stock Price Up 3.9% – Should You Buy?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) traded up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.39 and last traded at $12.29. 987,619 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 15,785,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AES currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.30.

AES Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.19. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of AES by 190.3% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of AES by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in AES by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in AES in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.