West Tower Group LLC Invests $450,000 in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 35,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $450,000. AES makes up about 1.0% of West Tower Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of AES by 67.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 332,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,273,000 after purchasing an additional 133,308 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in AES by 5,143.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 76,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 75,509 shares in the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC raised its position in AES by 34.6% during the third quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 760,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,261,000 after acquiring an additional 195,460 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd bought a new stake in AES during the fourth quarter worth $489,000. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in AES during the fourth quarter worth $2,375,000. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

AES Stock Down 1.2 %

AES stock opened at $12.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The AES Co. has a 52-week low of $9.88 and a 52-week high of $22.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.03.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AES from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AES currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.30.

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.