Wealthspire Advisors LLC Sells 971 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,364 shares of the company’s stock after selling 971 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 124,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,719,000 after buying an additional 23,296 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in American Electric Power by 23.2% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 108,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,132,000 after acquiring an additional 20,400 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 54.3% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 304,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,220,000 after acquiring an additional 107,092 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 1.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 131,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 17,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $106.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $107.36. The company has a market cap of $56.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.13.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

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.