AES (NYSE:AES) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $13.24 and last traded at $13.26, with a volume of 8047922 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AES Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.95. The firm has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AES. State Street Corp lifted its stake in AES by 18.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,354,000 after acquiring an additional 5,960,546 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of AES in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,746,000. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in AES by 482.8% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,865,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in AES by 169.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,002,000 after buying an additional 1,348,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in AES by 30.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,838,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000,000 after buying an additional 892,500 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by 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.