Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 385,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,496 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $33,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,273,181,000 after acquiring an additional 405,114 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $739,303,000 after purchasing an additional 776,965 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,378,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,433,000 after purchasing an additional 35,769 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 542.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $175,667,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP stock opened at $101.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $99.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. American Electric Power’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

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

American Electric Power Company 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.