AES (NYSE:AES) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AES (NYSE:AES) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

AES has been the topic of several other reports. Argus upgraded shares of AES from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AES from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of AES in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target (down from $23.00) on shares of AES in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of AES in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AES currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.27.

AES Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of AES stock opened at $14.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.11 and a 200 day moving average of $14.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.95. AES has a fifty-two week low of $9.46 and a fifty-two week high of $17.65.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 7.40%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in AES by 406.5% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of AES by 232.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AES in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of AES by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AES by 448.3% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 9,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 8,042 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

About AES

AES Corporation is a global energy company focused on the generation and distribution of electricity across diversified markets. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, AES develops, builds and operates power plants and distribution systems that serve residential, industrial and commercial customers. The company’s portfolio includes thermal, renewable and battery energy storage facilities designed to deliver reliable and sustainable electricity solutions.

Through its subsidiaries, AES operates a balanced mix of power generation assets, including natural gas, coal and renewables such as solar and wind.