The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in The AES Corporation by 54.2% during the first quarter, now owning 31,363 shares worth $390,000.
• AES reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.51, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.39, but its revenue declined by 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.176 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $0.70 and a yield of 5.5%.

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 54.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,363 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 37,096 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in AES were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AES. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in AES during the fourth quarter worth about $121,627,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in AES by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,571,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $367,499,000 after purchasing an additional 7,519,129 shares during the period. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in AES during the fourth quarter worth about $48,327,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AES in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,964,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of AES by 130.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,950,924 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,848,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236,418 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AES shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AES from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AES from $108.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AES from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.67.

AES Stock Up 2.9%

AES traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.31. 13,877,391 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,762,270. The AES Corporation has a 12-month low of $9.46 and a 12-month high of $20.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.19 and a 200 day moving average of $11.40. The firm has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.96. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. AES had a net margin of 8.42% and a return on equity of 19.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.30%.

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.