Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 15,040 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 82,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,040 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $7,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at $220,983,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,207,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,498,000 after purchasing an additional 738,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of AEP opened at $104.48 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.79 and a 200 day moving average of $99.29. The firm has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

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.