North Star Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,515,444 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 101,514 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned 0.21% of AES worth $19,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 760.4% in the 4th 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. Novem Group acquired a new position in shares of AES in the 4th quarter valued at about $134,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,089,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,760,000 after buying an additional 142,523 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AES in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of AES in the 4th quarter valued at about $550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company's stock.

AES Price Performance

NYSE:AES traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.07. 13,942,887 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,412,978. The AES Co. has a 52-week low of $9.46 and a 52-week high of $22.21. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $11.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.75. 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 company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last posted 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 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. AES's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AES shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AES from $108.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup cut their price target on AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered AES from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.