Leibman Financial Services Inc. Invests $2.38 Million in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 184,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,375,000. AES makes up 1.7% of Leibman Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in AES in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of AES by 59.1% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in AES during the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in AES in the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in AES by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES stock opened at $11.71 on Tuesday. The AES Co. has a 52 week low of $11.57 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.11.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. AES’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from AES’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AES shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of AES in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AES from $23.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

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.