Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,261,957 shares of the company’s stock after selling 653,595 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.80% of American Electric Power worth $393,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,021,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 12.5% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter worth $25,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1,153.9% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 54,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,612,000 after acquiring an additional 50,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 48.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 269,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,637,000 after purchasing an additional 87,300 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.77.

American Electric Power Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $101.57 on Tuesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $110.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $103.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.23. The company has a market capitalization of $54.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

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.