The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) Shares Purchased by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 253,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,341 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AES were worth $3,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in AES by 18.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,651,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $775,354,000 after acquiring an additional 5,960,546 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AES by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,513,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,125,000 after acquiring an additional 181,975 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in AES by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,694,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $134,286,000 after acquiring an additional 82,956 shares during the period. M&G PLC grew its position in AES by 12.7% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 6,511,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,235,000 after acquiring an additional 732,457 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in AES by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,961,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,989,000 after acquiring an additional 439,493 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:AES opened at $10.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.73. The AES Co. has a 12-month low of $9.88 and a 12-month high of $22.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.67%. AES’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC assumed coverage on AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.