American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Up 9.9% in September

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,620,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the August 31st total of 7,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.43.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $101.84 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. The firm has a market cap of $53.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $99.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.63. American Electric Power has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEP. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in American Electric Power by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its position in American Electric Power by 2.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 5,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in American Electric Power by 3.9% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.