First Financial Corp IN Sells 190 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Financial Corp IN trimmed its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 30.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $37,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AEP. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Electric Power by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $175,667,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,586,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,885 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,304,000 after acquiring an additional 660,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.1% during the 3rd 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 institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at $563,476.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at $563,476.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP traded down $1.25 on Tuesday, reaching $86.89. 1,701,995 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,423,221. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $93.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.98. 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 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 company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 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.