Investment Partners LTD. Lowers Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Investment Partners LTD. decreased its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,786 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 14.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after buying an additional 3,589,451 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,240,000 after buying an additional 587,145 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,021,000 after buying an additional 1,181,706 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.1% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,308,000 after buying an additional 374,300 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,428,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,077,000 after buying an additional 98,897 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $85.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,975,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,656,889. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $93.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.42.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 82.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Cfra restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Mizuho downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com downgraded American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays upped their price target on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

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.