American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board trimmed its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,258 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,157 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter worth about $4,175,000. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter worth about $521,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 141.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,912,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119,687 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.7% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 55,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,062,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. 74.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $103.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.97.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP stock traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,290,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,907,626. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.46. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.47 and a 52 week high of $103.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). American Electric Power had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 86.01%.

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.