AES (NYSE:AES) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $11.59, but opened at $11.15. AES shares last traded at $11.52, with a volume of 4,750,441 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America initiated coverage on AES in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.80.

AES Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $11.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is 48.61%.

Institutional Trading of AES

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in AES during the third quarter worth about $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AES by 190.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of AES by 79.5% during the 4th 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. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in AES by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in AES by 760.4% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,958 shares during the period. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.