Heartland Bank & Trust Co Sells 159 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co cut its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 37.1% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 4.2% in the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 16,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,721,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 4.7% in the third quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 18,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in American Electric Power by 4.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the third quarter worth about $205,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $100.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.63. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.75 and a twelve month high of $105.18.

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

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEP. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on 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, Barclays increased their target price on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

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.