Swiss National Bank Sells 44,900 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,611,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.31% of American Electric Power worth $130,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in American Electric Power by 4.4% in 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 during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 14,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AEP. Scotiabank upped their price target on American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.14.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $88.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $92.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.86.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced 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 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.