Simmons Bank Has $4.92 Million Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,608 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,946 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in American Electric Power by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 14,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,004,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,717,836. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.16. The company has a market cap of $47.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $92.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 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.