153,215 Shares in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Acquired by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 153,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,972,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AES. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of AES by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its holdings in shares of AES by 1.0% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 84,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners boosted its position in AES by 3.9% during the third quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners now owns 29,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in AES by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AES by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AES opened at $11.59 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.59. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The AES Co. has a twelve month low of $9.88 and a twelve month high of $22.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AES shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AES has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.80.

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.