Wrapmanager Inc. Decreases Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Wrapmanager Inc. cut its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,706 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,953,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,835,000 after acquiring an additional 809,067 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,304,000 after acquiring an additional 660,599 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,240,000 after purchasing an additional 587,145 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded 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 note on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Cfra restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $90.95. 2,465,183 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,717,186. The stock has a market cap of $47.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.52 and a 200-day moving average of $81.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $92.10.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

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.