WBI Investments LLC Invests $2.65 Million in The AES Corporation $AES

Key Points

• WBI Investments LLC has acquired 213,023 shares of The AES Corporation, valued at approximately $2.65 million, marking a new investment position in the company.
• Several other large investors significantly increased their stakes in AES in the first quarter, with institutional investors now holding 93.13% of the company's stock.
• Analyst ratings for AES have been mostly positive, with an average price target of $24.67 and several upgrades from firms including JPMorgan and Susquehanna.

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 213,023 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,646,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in AES by 1,976.4% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 65,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 61,902 shares during the period. Legacy Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in AES in the first quarter worth approximately $191,000. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new stake in AES in the first quarter worth approximately $291,000. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in AES by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 60,072 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 17,372 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in AES by 763.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 146,851 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 129,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AES Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $12.74 on Thursday. The AES Corporation has a one year low of $9.46 and a one year high of $20.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.05 and a 200-day moving average of $11.72. The company has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.82.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. 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.

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