AES (NYSE:AES) Price Target Raised to $16.00

AES (NYSE:AES) had its target price raised by Susquehanna from $15.00 to $16.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a positive rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AES from $108.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered AES from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on AES from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AES currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.67.

AES Stock Up 1.0%

AES stock opened at $13.95 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.30 and its 200 day moving average is $11.24. The stock has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.95. AES has a 1-year low of $9.46 and a 1-year high of $20.30.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.10). AES had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 10.67%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AES will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of AES during the first quarter valued at $35,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of AES by 200.6% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in AES in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in AES by 760.4% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

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.