Legal & General Group Plc Sells 274,625 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,091,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 274,625 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.97% of American Electric Power worth $446,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter worth about $1,615,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter worth about $1,731,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 381.9% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581,734 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 646.9% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 261,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,510,000 after acquiring an additional 226,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 21.7% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,170,000 after acquiring an additional 103,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company 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, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.43.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $101.84 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.71 and its 200 day moving average is $91.57. 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 has a market cap of $53.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. 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.