Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $277,000 Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 222.0% in the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in American Electric Power by 304.8% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 91.6% during the 3rd quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Mizuho downgraded 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. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $86.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.63 and a 200-day moving average of $80.59. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $93.56. The stock has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.82%.

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.