First Merchants Corp Trims Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Merchants Corp reduced its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $101.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $95.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.95. The firm has a market cap of $54.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.01 and a 52-week high of $105.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 13.48%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

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.