Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Sells 156 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $175,667,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,586,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,055,000 after buying an additional 1,043,885 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth $47,326,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Electric Power

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

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $87.56. 1,154,376 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,361,756. The company has a market cap of $46.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $93.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.28.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.62.

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.