American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Stake Lessened by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Blueshift Asset Management LLC cut its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,666 shares of the company’s stock after selling 641 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,983,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 109.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at approximately $80,207,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.92.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.3 %

AEP stock opened at $106.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.05. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $109.52. The company has a market cap of $56.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.43%.

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.