The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Shares Sold by Bridgefront Capital LLC

Bridgefront Capital LLC trimmed its position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 56.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,745 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC’s holdings in AES were worth $154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AES by 190.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in AES by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of AES by 601.5% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in AES by 18,047.1% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 6,136 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

AES stock opened at $11.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $11.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.14. The AES Co. has a 52-week low of $9.57 and a 52-week high of $22.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The company’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AES. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of AES in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AES has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.71.

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.