Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 6,509 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 322,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,509 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.06% of American Electric Power worth $33,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 381.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,734 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 221.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,140,000 after buying an additional 1,182,451 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in American Electric Power by 578.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,948,000 after buying an additional 831,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at about $67,669,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.43.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $100.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $100.49 and a 200-day moving average of $93.52. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $72.01 and a one year high of $105.18. The company has a market cap of $52.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.