American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lowered its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 14.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 147,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,462 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $15,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at $211,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 161.6% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 6,559 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 9.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 152,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,090,000 after buying an additional 13,038 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $99.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.37 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18. The stock has a market cap of $52.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.68.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.43.

American Electric Power Profile

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.