Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,722 shares of the company’s stock after selling 215 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,615,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,731,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 381.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581,734 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 646.9% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 261,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,510,000 after acquiring an additional 226,435 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,170,000 after acquiring an additional 103,771 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ AEP opened at $101.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $105.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.76.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.15.

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.