American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Down 10.2% in April

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,400,000 shares, a decrease of 10.2% from the March 31st total of 9,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at about $251,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in American Electric Power by 1,096.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 172,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,817,000 after acquiring an additional 157,832 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 308,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,225,000 after acquiring an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at about $236,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $86.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $93.56. The stock has a market cap of $45.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.67.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

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.