Is The AES Corporation (AES) A Good Stock To Buy?

The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their September 30 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.

Is The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) a healthy stock for your portfolio? The best stock pickers are in a bullish mood. The number of long hedge fund positions inched up by 5 lately. At the end of this article we will also compare AES to other stocks, including Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG), PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM), and Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Follow Aes Corp (NYSE:AES)

To the average investor there are dozens of metrics shareholders have at their disposal to analyze publicly traded companies. A duo of the most under-the-radar metrics are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce the market by a solid margin (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s analyze the fresh action encompassing The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES).

Hedge fund activity in The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES)

At the Q3’s end, a total of 30 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 20% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Legg Mason Capital Management has the number one position in The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES), worth close to $118 million, comprising 2.4% of its total 13F portfolio. On Legg Mason Capital Management’s heels is Levin Capital Strategies, managed by John A. Levin, which holds a $18.1 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining professional money managers that hold long positions encompass Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, George Hall’s Clinton Group and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Now, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Clinton Group assembled the largest position in The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES). Clinton Group had $9.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brad Dunkley and Blair Levinsky’s Waratah Capital Advisors also initiated a $4.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new AES positions are David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) but similarly valued. These stocks are Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG), PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM), Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE), and NetSuite Inc (NYSE:N). This group of stocks’ market values resemble AES’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
ARG 30 606260 1
PHM 27 470670 0
PRE 24 816976 -11
N 14 239478 1

As you can see these stocks had an average of 24 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $533 million. That figure was $211 million in AES’s case. Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG) is the most popular stock in this table with a total of 30 funds reporting long positions, which is the same number as in AES’s case. On the other hand NetSuite Inc (NYSE:N) is the least popular one with only 14 bullish hedge fund positions. In this way, since AES enjoys a strong level of interest it may be a good idea to take a closer look at the stock and maybe include it in your portfolio.