Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Raises Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,367,201 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,593 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.26% of American Electric Power worth $111,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 222.0% during the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AEP. Guggenheim cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.15.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $79.51 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.82%.

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.