The AES Corporation $AES Shares Purchased by First Financial Bankshares Inc

Key Points

• First Financial Bankshares Inc has significantly increased its stake in The AES Corporation by 301.4%, owning approximately $7.66 million worth of AES shares.
• The AES Corporation reported $0.51 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.39, although revenue was down 3% year-over-year.
• AES has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.176 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 5.2% and a payout ratio of 49.30%.

First Financial Bankshares Inc increased its stake in shares of The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 301.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 616,965 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 463,250 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc owned about 0.09% of AES worth $7,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AES. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in AES in the 4th quarter worth about $121,627,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in AES by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,571,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $367,499,000 after acquiring an additional 7,519,129 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in shares of AES by 21.8% during the first quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 27,518,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $341,785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,930,252 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AES by 30.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,790,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $258,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,149 shares during the period. Finally, Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in AES during the 4th quarter worth $48,327,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AES traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.93. The company had a trading volume of 12,315,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,112,618. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $12.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.92. The AES Corporation has a twelve month low of $9.46 and a twelve month high of $20.30.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.42% and a return on equity of 19.02%. AES's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. AES's payout ratio is 49.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays upped their target price on AES from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AES from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of AES from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AES from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.67.

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.