Sciencast Management LP Makes New Investment in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 65,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,170,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in AES in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Glassman Wealth Services boosted its stake in AES by 186.1% in the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in AES by 68.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in AES in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in AES by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Stock Performance

AES traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.91. The stock had a trading volume of 6,349,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,095,124. The firm has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a PE ratio of 26.26 and a beta of 1.08. The AES Co. has a 12 month low of $11.43 and a 12 month high of $22.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.96.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.16. AES had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 36.23%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The AES Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. AES’s payout ratio is 95.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AES. 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 note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of AES from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of AES from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of AES in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of AES in a report on Monday, March 25th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.88.

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.