AES (NYSE:AES) Reaches New 12-Month Low - Here's Why

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $9.88 and last traded at $9.91, with a volume of 9052517 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America upgraded AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna cut their target price on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.67.

AES Stock Down 3.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business's fifty day moving average price is $11.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.78.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.18%. AES's payout ratio is 29.54%.

Institutional Trading of AES

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AES by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,173,626 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $632,865,000 after purchasing an additional 8,027,426 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in AES by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,571,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $367,499,000 after acquiring an additional 7,519,129 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AES by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,895,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $216,862,000 after acquiring an additional 381,761 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AES by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,948,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $205,261,000 after purchasing an additional 6,238,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,627,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.