Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Reduces Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP trimmed its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 45,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,420 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after buying an additional 1,181,706 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,953,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,835,000 after acquiring an additional 809,067 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 18.1% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,304,000 after acquiring an additional 660,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.7 %

American Electric Power stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $90.29. 390,678 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,693,180. The company has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.22. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $92.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.14.

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.