Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Cuts Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. reduced its position in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 53.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 27,277 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in AES were worth $462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AES. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in AES by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of AES by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AES by 57.8% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in AES by 267.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 2,611 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of AES in the fourth quarter worth $70,000. 93.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AES Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE AES opened at $19.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 1.08. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $16.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.11. The AES Co. has a 1 year low of $11.43 and a 1 year high of $22.85.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. AES’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AES’s payout ratio is currently 95.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of AES in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho initiated coverage on AES in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of AES from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of AES in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AES currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.13.

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.