North Star Asset Management Inc. Buys New Stake in The AES Corporation $AES

North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,227,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,991,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AES. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in AES by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 14,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in AES by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 32,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its position in shares of AES by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 28,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. increased its stake in shares of AES by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 17,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 61.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares in the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded AES from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.71.

AES Price Performance

AES stock opened at $14.72 on Friday. The AES Corporation has a 52-week low of $12.33 and a 52-week high of $17.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93. The stock has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.73.

AES (NYSE:AES) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.15. AES had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The AES Corporation will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.176 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. AES’s payout ratio is 26.72%.

About AES

AES Corporation is a global energy company focused on the generation and distribution of electricity across diversified markets. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, AES develops, builds and operates power plants and distribution systems that serve residential, industrial and commercial customers. The company’s portfolio includes thermal, renewable and battery energy storage facilities designed to deliver reliable and sustainable electricity solutions.

Through its subsidiaries, AES operates a balanced mix of power generation assets, including natural gas, coal and renewables such as solar and wind.