Banco Santander S.A. Lowers Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 42.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 184,196 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in AES were worth $4,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AES. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in AES by 92.4% in the second quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in AES in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in AES by 102.3% in the second 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 bought a new position in AES during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of AES by 59.1% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Price Performance

NYSE AES opened at $13.24 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.95. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $13.04 and a 52 week high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. AES’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AES shares. Evercore ISI raised AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.38.

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.