AES (NYSE:AES) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $9.46 and last traded at $9.58, with a volume of 7922148 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered AES from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AES from $108.00 to $112.00 in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AES has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.22.

AES Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.95, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in AES by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AES in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of AES in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.