AES (NYSE:AES) Trading Down 3.9% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• AES Corporation's stock price declined by 3.9% on Thursday, closing at $14.77 after a low of $14.52, with trading volume dropping 75% from its average.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for AES, with the average target now set at $24.67, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.176 per share, representing a yield of 4.8% and a payout ratio of 49.30%.

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 3.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $14.52 and last traded at $14.77. 3,649,776 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 14,734,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AES from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of AES from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AES from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AES from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.67.

AES Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. AES had a return on equity of 19.02% and a net margin of 8.42%.AES's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.30%.

Institutional Trading of AES

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in AES during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AES during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in AES by 200.6% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in AES by 33.5% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in AES by 660.6% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 4,092 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 3,554 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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