Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 23,579 The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 23,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in AES by 59.1% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in AES during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the third quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of AES by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna cut their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America started coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AES presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.80.

AES Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $10.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.16. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $10.33 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.61%.

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.