Toth Financial Advisory Corp Takes $95,000 Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $95,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 34,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 14,806 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AES by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 74,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 4,723 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of AES by 3,275.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 298,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,837,000 after acquiring an additional 289,298 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 220,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,831,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AES in the fourth quarter valued at $129,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AES stock opened at $11.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.69. The AES Co. has a 12-month low of $11.08 and a 12-month high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. AES’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. This is a positive change from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AES has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC started coverage on AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.30.

AES 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.