The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Short Interest Update

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,180,000 shares, a drop of 17.4% from the July 15th total of 18,370,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

AES Price Performance

Shares of AES opened at $17.26 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.77. AES has a 12-month low of $11.43 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The stock has a market cap of $12.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. AES had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 35.44%. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.83%.

Institutional Trading of AES

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AES. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AES by 92.4% in the second quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in AES by 102.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in AES in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AES during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut AES from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on AES from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on AES from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.71.

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.