Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $3.44 Million Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 39,937 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,139 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,273,181,000 after buying an additional 405,114 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after purchasing an additional 776,965 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,983,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,311,000 after acquiring an additional 147,826 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,586,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,885 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 542.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Electric Power news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Electric Power news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,140. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $563,476.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP stock traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $96.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,275,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,204,326. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $97.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.41. The stock has a market cap of $50.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

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.