The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) Shares Bought by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 114.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 710,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 378,819 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR owned 0.10% of AES worth $8,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AES. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in AES by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AES during the first quarter worth $35,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in AES by 760.4% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 2,958 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in AES by 235.4% during the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 3,595 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 2,523 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of AES stock traded up $0.58 on Tuesday, reaching $13.16. The company had a trading volume of 20,827,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,861,124. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $11.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.21. The firm has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of 7.15, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.95. The AES Corporation has a 52-week low of $9.46 and a 52-week high of $20.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. AES had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.06%. AES's revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AES from $108.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AES from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AES from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.22.

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.