Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 38,776 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 304,513 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,776 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $28,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AEP. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 12.4% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 8,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after buying an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 17,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,800,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 23.4% in the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 152.8% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 11,936 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AEP opened at $107.75 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.76. The stock has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $103.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.23.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 firm posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 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.