Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 41,644 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 931,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,644 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of American Electric Power worth $81,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,273,181,000 after purchasing an additional 405,114 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 9.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after purchasing an additional 776,965 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,378,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,433,000 after purchasing an additional 35,769 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth approximately $175,667,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $102.15 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. The company has a market cap of $53.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.82 and a 200 day moving average of $90.96. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim upped their target price on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.00.

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.