AES (NYSE:AES) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $12.15 and last traded at $12.17, with a volume of 6268582 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $12.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AES shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on AES in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price target for the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.30.

AES Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.20.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.176 dividend. This is an increase from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.61%.

Institutional Trading of AES

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AES in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in AES by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AES during the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in AES during the 3rd quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of AES in the third quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors 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.