American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 572,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,059 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.11% of American Electric Power worth $58,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $419,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 56,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,847,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $246,000. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ AEP opened at $97.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.35. The company has a market capitalization of $51.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.97 and a 12 month high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.12%.

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.