12 Best Utility Stocks to Buy for Dividends

2. The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES)

No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 49

Dividend Yield as of Oct. 22: 4.93%

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. Ranked as the largest global supplier of clean energy to corporations by BloombergNEF for the third consecutive year, the company maintains a substantial project pipeline across solar, wind, and energy storage.

On October 21, Barclays raised its price target on The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) from $14 to $15, and kept an ‘Overweight’ rating on its shares. The update comes as part of a Q3 earnings preview for the power and utilities sector, with the analyst remaining bullish on the group due to earnings outlooks.

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) announced in August that it would return approximately $500 million this year with its annual dividend of $0.7 per share, while investing around $1.8 billion towards expansion, primarily in the renewables and utilities businesses. Staying true to its commitment, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17595 per share earlier this month. AES boasts an impressive annual dividend yield of 4.93% as of the writing of this piece.