Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Holdings in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its holdings in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 147,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,828 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AES were worth $2,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AES by 17.5% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 58,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 8,697 shares in the last quarter. Concourse Financial Group Securities Inc. raised its position in AES by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Concourse Financial Group Securities Inc. now owns 6,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AES by 91.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 4,441 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of AES by 3.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 155,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after buying an additional 4,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the third quarter worth approximately $14,531,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Trading Down 0.3 %

AES opened at $18.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $11.43 and a 52 week high of $23.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.09. The firm has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 1.08.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. AES had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 36.23%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of AES from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of AES in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho initiated coverage on AES in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of AES in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on AES from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.13.

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.