AES (AES) and Its Competitors Head to Head Review

AES (NYSE:AES) is one of 141 public companies in the “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare AES to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for AES and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AES	0	7	0	0	2.00
AES Competitors	958	2992	3834	191	2.41

AES currently has a consensus target price of $15.80, suggesting a potential upside of 5.86%. As a group, “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies have a potential upside of 138.33%. Given AES’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AES has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares AES and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AES	13.16%	20.56%	3.73%
AES Competitors	-879.38%	9.92%	0.66%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.1% of AES shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.2% of shares of all “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of AES shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of shares of all “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

AES pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. AES pays out 28.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.5% and pay out 187.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. AES has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AES and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
AES	$12.23 billion	$910.00 million	5.99
AES Competitors	$6.37 billion	$831.21 million	-4.26

AES has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. AES is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

AES has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AES’s rivals have a beta of 0.63, meaning that their average share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AES beats its rivals on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About AES

The AES Corporation is a global power company that develops and operates electricity generation and energy infrastructure. Its portfolio includes renewable energy, natural gas and other power generation, as well as battery energy storage. AES also helps businesses and other customers procure electricity and pursue clean-energy goals. Founded in 1981 as Applied Energy Services, the company has expanded from its U.S. origins to serve customers across multiple regions, including the Americas, Europe and Asia.