The AES Corporation’s AES inclination toward preserving financial flexibility by reducing costs, growing partnerships and focusing on renewables is likely to be a growth catalyst.Let’s discuss the factors that make the company an appropriate investment option at the moment.Zacks Rank & VGM ScoreThe company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.AES Corp has an impressive VGM Score of B. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum with the score being a weighted combination of all three factors. Back tested results show that stocks with a favorable VGM Score of A or B coupled with a bullish Zacks Rank are the best investment options.Price PerformanceIn the past month, the company’s shares have gained 34% compared with the industry’s growth of 18.6%. Growth ProjectionsThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings is pegged at $1.42 cents per share on revenues of $10.59 billion. This indicates 4.41% and 3.95% increase of the bottom and the top line, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported figures.The company’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is pegged at 7.70%.Dividend Yield & Return on Equity (ROE)Currently, the company has a dividend yield of 3.89% compared with the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 2.18% and the industry’s 3.16%ROE is a measure of a company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholder’s funds. ROE for the trailing 12 months for the company is 22.82% compared with the industry’s ROE of 9.80% and Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 16.74%.Other Key PicksSome other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are NorthWestern Corporation NWE, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. PCG and Southern Company SO. NorthWestern sports a Zacks Rank #1, while Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern Company carry a Zacks Rank #2.Long-term earnings growth of Pacific Gas & Electric, NorthWestern and Southern Company is pegged at 2.50%, 3.30% and 4 %, respectively.Pacific Gas & Electric, NorthWestern and Southern Company have trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 7.35%, 7.62% and 8.13%, on average, respectively.Just Released: Zacks’ 7 Best Stocks for TodayExperts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +24.5% per year.These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout.See these time-sensitive tickers now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Southern Company (The) (SO): Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES): Free Stock Analysis Report Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PCG): Free Stock Analysis Report NorthWestern Corporation (NWE): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research