Analysts Set The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) Price Target at $23.91

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

Several research firms have weighed in on AES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AES from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised AES from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of AES from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of AES from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock.

AES Price Performance

AES stock opened at $14.12 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. AES has a 12-month low of $9.46 and a 12-month high of $15.51.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. AES had a return on equity of 19.02% and a net margin of 8.42%.The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. AES’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 43.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in AES by 379.9% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 9,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 1st quarter worth about $177,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of AES in the 1st quarter worth about $2,695,000. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in AES by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 86,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 12,313 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in AES by 2.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 824,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,235,000 after acquiring an additional 20,109 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.