The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Short Interest Up 27.9% in May

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,330,000 shares, a growth of 27.9% from the April 30th total of 14,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

AES Trading Down 0.8 %

AES stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.59. 11,403,108 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,062,275. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.70 and its 200-day moving average is $17.75. 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 market cap of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99 and a beta of 1.08. AES has a 52-week low of $11.43 and a 52-week high of $22.60.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AES will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of AES from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on AES from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of AES from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of AES in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of AES from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AES has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of AES during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Glassman Wealth Services raised its stake in AES by 186.1% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in AES by 68.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in AES in the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of AES by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.