American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Update

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,530,000 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the January 31st total of 7,810,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $103.39 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.55. American Electric Power has a 12 month low of $79.16 and a 12 month high of $109.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AEP. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 6,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 27,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 4,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 3.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AEP. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.46.

About American Electric Power

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.