Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on AES (NYSE:AES)

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 5,561 put options on the company. This is an increase of 31% compared to the average volume of 4,235 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AES. Susquehanna lowered AES from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AES in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of AES from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.71.

AES Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AES opened at $14.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The company has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 0.96. AES has a 12 month low of $12.33 and a 12 month high of $17.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.67 and a 200-day moving average of $14.72.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.18. AES had a return on equity of 22.66% and a net margin of 10.78%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AES will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in AES by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,280,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,215,000 after purchasing an additional 7,133,230 shares during the period. Kryger Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AES during the first quarter worth approximately $31,702,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its position in shares of AES by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 6,898,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,922,000 after buying an additional 1,002,530 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AES by 247.6% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 968,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,185,000 after buying an additional 689,741 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in AES by 4,710.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 542,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,780,000 after buying an additional 531,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

About AES

AES Corporation is a global energy company focused on the generation and distribution of electricity across diversified markets. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, AES develops, builds and operates power plants and distribution systems that serve residential, industrial and commercial customers. The company’s portfolio includes thermal, renewable and battery energy storage facilities designed to deliver reliable and sustainable electricity solutions.

Through its subsidiaries, AES operates a balanced mix of power generation assets, including natural gas, coal and renewables such as solar and wind.