Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 3,047 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund 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 portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth about $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth about $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,096,000 after buying an additional 11,065 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1,592.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,612,000 after buying an additional 389,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 26.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,531,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,432,000 after buying an additional 522,608 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Mizuho cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.36.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $87.77. The company had a trading volume of 768,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,753,812. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $92.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $46.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.72.

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

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.