AES (NYSE:AES) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.52, but opened at $11.13. AES shares last traded at $11.08, with a volume of 2,044,557 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AES from $108.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of AES in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of AES from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AES from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $9.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.22.

AES Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 6.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. AES had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 10.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The AES Corporation will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its position in shares of AES by 37.4% during the first quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 291,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 79,355 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AES by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,879,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,536,000 after buying an additional 185,020 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AES by 141.0% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 66,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 39,107 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AES by 23.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 689,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,564,000 after purchasing an additional 129,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new position in AES in the fourth quarter valued at $4,936,000. Institutional investors own 93.13% of the company’s stock.

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.