AES (NYSE:AES) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $10.72, but opened at $10.20. AES shares last traded at $10.07, with a volume of 2,780,462 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AES shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded AES from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America raised shares of AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Finally, HSBC cut their price target on shares of AES from $15.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.22.

AES Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $10.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.26. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AES

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AES. Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its position in AES by 37.4% during the first quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 291,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,619,000 after buying an additional 79,355 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in AES by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,756,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $61,220,000 after purchasing an additional 249,486 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AES by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,879,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $88,536,000 after purchasing an additional 185,020 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AES by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 689,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,564,000 after purchasing an additional 129,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the fourth quarter worth about $4,936,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.