Short Interest in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Drops By 20.1%

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,350,000 shares, a decline of 20.1% from the March 15th total of 11,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,910,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $82.10 on Friday. American Electric Power has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $94.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.42 and a 200-day moving average of $79.74. The company has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 82.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.0% in the first quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 0.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.4% in the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.08.

American Electric Power Company 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.