Raymond James & Associates Sells 22,242 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,822,726 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,242 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.35% of American Electric Power worth $187,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 1,892 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at $559,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 28,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,458,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 12.4% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 47,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,090,000 after buying an additional 5,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.43.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $100.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $53.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.01 and a 52-week high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

American Electric Power 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.