AES (NYSE:AES) Downgraded to “Underperform” Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of AES (NYSE:AES) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $9.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $10.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AES. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of AES from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HSBC dropped their price target on shares of AES from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AES has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.22.

AES Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE AES opened at $11.23 on Tuesday. AES has a 12-month low of $9.57 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 7.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.89.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.10). AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that AES will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AES. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in AES by 190.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in AES by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in AES during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AES by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of AES by 200.6% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.