Benjamin Edwards Inc. Trims Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,047 shares of the company’s stock after selling 760 shares during the quarter. American Electric Power comprises about 0.9% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AEP. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 9,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 53.1% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 7,562 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,823,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the second quarter worth $1,520,000. Finally, Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the second quarter worth $835,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.15.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $101.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two 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 company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio 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.