Maven Securities LTD Has $1.60 Million Stock Position in The AES Corporation $AES

Key Points

• Maven Securities LTD significantly increased its stake in The AES Corporation by 414.7%, owning 128,673 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a generally positive outlook, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.67.
• The AES Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.176 per share, yielding 5.3%, with a payout ratio of 49.30%.

Maven Securities LTD raised its holdings in The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 414.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,673 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 103,673 shares during the quarter. Maven Securities LTD's holdings in AES were worth $1,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in AES by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 84,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in AES in the 4th quarter worth $4,809,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 2,505 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 471,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,062,000 after buying an additional 164,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of AES by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,301,147 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,350,000 after buying an additional 1,062,074 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AES from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AES from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Susquehanna increased their price target 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. Barclays increased their price objective on AES from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AES has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.67.

AES Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:AES traded down $0.2280 on Thursday, hitting $12.9720. 6,463,003 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,511,210. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. The AES Corporation has a 1 year low of $9.46 and a 1 year high of $20.30.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. AES had a return on equity of 19.02% and a net margin of 8.42%.The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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 was Friday, August 1st. AES's dividend payout ratio 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.