Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,516,721 shares of the company’s stock after selling 331,074 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $416,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 6,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 12,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $109.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $58.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $109.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.77.

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.