Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 112,183 Shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Free Report) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 479,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 112,183 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of AES worth $9,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in AES by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,669 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AES by 57.8% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in AES by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of AES by 267.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AES shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of AES in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on AES from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho started coverage on AES in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of AES in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AES has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.13.

AES Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AES traded up $0.34 on Tuesday, hitting $20.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,218,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,366,007. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The AES Co. has a 12-month low of $11.43 and a 12-month high of $22.60. The company has a market capitalization of $14.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.22 and a 200-day moving average of $17.24.

AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. AES had a return on equity of 36.23% and a net margin of 4.40%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. AES's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.83%.

AES 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.