Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 46,226 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 20.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,539 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,226 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in American Electric Power were worth $15,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter worth about $27,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 935.9% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.79.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $100.28 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.11.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released 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. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. American Electric Power’s 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.