Bleakley Financial Group LLC Sells 341 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 542.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927,234 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 381.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,127,000 after buying an additional 1,581,734 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 221.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,140,000 after buying an additional 1,182,451 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 578.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,948,000 after buying an additional 831,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth about $67,669,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.43.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $100.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.01 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $100.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.34.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

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.