American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Down 10.2% in April

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,400,000 shares, a decrease of 10.2% from the March 31st total of 9,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,225,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,998,081,000 after buying an additional 425,649 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,240,000 after purchasing an additional 587,145 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 5.1% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after purchasing an additional 374,300 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $85.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.53 and a 200-day moving average of $80.50. American Electric Power has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $93.56.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.08.

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.