Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $5 Million Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,558 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,047 shares during the quarter. American Electric Power accounts for 1.1% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 308,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,225,000 after buying an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 128,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 64,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,199,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,222,000 after purchasing an additional 30,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 23,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.36.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $87.77. 768,353 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,753,812. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $92.88. The company has a market cap of $46.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.72.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th 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 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 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.