Bleakley Financial Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,267 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 222.0% in the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its position in American Electric Power by 2,343.8% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Cfra reissued a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Guggenheim downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.08.

American Electric Power Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $83.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $94.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.67. The stock has a market cap of $43.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 82.82%.

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.