Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 1,062,074 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 32.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,301,147 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,062,074 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.60% of AES worth $55,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in AES during the third quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in AES by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,930,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,794,000 after purchasing an additional 333,154 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in AES by 3.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 830,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,667,000 after purchasing an additional 28,043 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in AES by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 3,541,203 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,575,000 after buying an additional 32,122 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of AES by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 406,443 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,231,000 after buying an additional 43,792 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES Stock Up 2.4 %

AES stock opened at $10.19 on Friday. The AES Co. has a fifty-two week low of $9.57 and a fifty-two week high of $22.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.81. The business's 50 day moving average price is $11.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. AES's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio is 29.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna reduced their price target on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays decreased 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. Bank of America raised shares of AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AES has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.71.

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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