AES Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AES)

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 18,306 call options on the company. This is an increase of 26% compared to the typical volume of 14,475 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in AES during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in AES by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in AES by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in AES by 760.4% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,958 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Stock Performance

NYSE:AES opened at $11.59 on Friday. AES has a 1-year low of $9.88 and a 1-year high of $22.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.59. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

AES (NYSE:AES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AES will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.176 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on AES in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. HSBC initiated coverage on AES in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the 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.