Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on AES (NYSE:AES)

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 18,306 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 26% compared to the typical daily volume of 14,475 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AES. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced 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. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price target for the company. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.80.

AES Stock Up 12.1 %

AES stock traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,572,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,787,292. The company has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. AES has a 12 month low of $9.88 and a 12 month high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.05%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in AES by 67.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 332,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,273,000 after purchasing an additional 133,308 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in AES by 5,143.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 76,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 75,509 shares in the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AES by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 760,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,261,000 after acquiring an additional 195,460 shares during the period. Leibman Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the 4th quarter worth $2,375,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AES by 47.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 74,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 23,764 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.