AES (NYSE:AES) Stock Price Down 4.5% - Should You Sell?

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) shares fell 4.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $12.64 and last traded at $12.67. 12,247,249 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 13,606,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AES. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AES in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of AES from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of AES from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.22.

AES Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $10.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.22. The firm has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AES. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of AES by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 6,860 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in AES in the 4th quarter worth about $402,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in AES in the 4th quarter worth about $33,964,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in AES by 18,047.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,170 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 6,136 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in AES by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 303,490 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,906,000 after buying an additional 46,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.