The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors reduced its holdings in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,746,826 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,503,142 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned approximately 3.20% of AES worth $292,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of AES by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AES by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in AES by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AES by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seed Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in AES by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. now owns 14,665 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company's stock.

AES Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AES traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.05. The company had a trading volume of 13,188,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,476,436. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The AES Co. has a 1 year low of $9.57 and a 1 year high of $22.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.63.

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

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid 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 7.00%. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AES. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of AES in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Bank of America upgraded AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.71.

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.