UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Sells 260,543 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 69.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 116,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 260,543 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $10,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after buying an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd 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. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,389,032,000 after purchasing an additional 543,054 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,655,000 after purchasing an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $105.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.58 and its 200 day moving average is $99.13. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $109.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.