Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Cuts Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 745 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after buying an additional 3,589,451 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after purchasing an additional 587,145 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 13.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,706 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 5.1% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after purchasing an additional 374,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,428,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,077,000 after purchasing an additional 98,897 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $88.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $84.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.86. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $92.88.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim cut shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.14.

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.