Haverford Trust Co Sells 1,038 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Haverford Trust Co reduced its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 143,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,038 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $13,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 168.0% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 917,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,645,000 after acquiring an additional 575,318 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at about $675,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at about $419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,767,425,000 after acquiring an additional 763,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 987,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,113,000 after acquiring an additional 112,807 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.92.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $105.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.89 and a 200-day moving average of $99.04. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $109.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.