E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Sells 440 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,226 shares of the company’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 304.8% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the third quarter worth about $36,000. JNBA Financial Advisors lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 91.6% during the third quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AEP shares. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Mizuho cut shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.4 %

AEP traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.95. 2,464,183 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,717,180. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $92.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

American Electric Power Company 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.