JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for AES (NYSE:AES) Stock Price

AES (NYSE:AES - Free Report) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AES from $108.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna lifted their price target on AES from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Monday. HSBC dropped their price target on AES from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded AES from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.67.

AES Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:AES traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.81. 8,088,145 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,876,590. AES has a 12-month low of $9.46 and a 12-month high of $20.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 7.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.24.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.10). AES had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that AES will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. AES's payout ratio is 38.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in AES by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AES during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in AES by 200.6% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in AES by 760.4% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company's stock.

About AES

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.