American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners cut its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,479,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 263,584 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.47% of American Electric Power worth $213,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.5 %

AEP traded up $0.55 on Friday, reaching $101.79. 4,453,719 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,688,872. The company’s 50 day moving average is $90.48 and its 200-day moving average is $86.00. The company has a market cap of $54.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $104.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.65.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AEP. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.46.

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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Therace Risch 5,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power 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.