The AES Corporation $AES Stock: Howard Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings

Howard Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 450,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,463 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AES were worth $6,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter worth $722,429,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,280,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,215,000 after purchasing an additional 7,133,230 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P acquired a new position in AES during the second quarter valued at approximately $162,298,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in AES during the 2nd quarter worth $97,056,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of AES during the second quarter worth about $80,584,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Stock Performance

AES stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $14.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,177,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,328,936. The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The AES Corporation has a 52 week low of $13.21 and a 52 week high of $17.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $14.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.67.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. AES had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 20.69%. As a group, analysts predict that The AES Corporation will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.1759 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded AES from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AES currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.83.

AES Company Profile

AES Corporation is a global energy company that develops, owns and operates electricity generation and utility businesses. Its activities include renewable energy, natural gas-fired generation, battery energy storage and other energy infrastructure, as well as the distribution of electricity to customers through regulated utility operations.

The company serves residential, commercial and industrial customers in the United States and international markets, including countries in Latin America.