ING Groep NV Lowers Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

ING Groep NV cut its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,431 shares of the company’s stock after selling 104,084 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $17,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,655,000 after buying an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,009,000 after buying an additional 100,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $104.35 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18. The stock has a market cap of $55.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $96.26 and a 200-day moving average of $98.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given 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 is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.