American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Update

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,250,000 shares, a drop of 16.4% from the July 31st total of 8,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $580,140. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in American Electric Power by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,273,181,000 after buying an additional 405,114 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 9.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after acquiring an additional 776,965 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,378,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,433,000 after purchasing an additional 35,769 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in American Electric Power by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,983,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,311,000 after purchasing an additional 147,826 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 542.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $100.28 on Monday. American Electric Power has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $104.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $53.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim increased their price target on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.77.

About American Electric Power

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.