National Bank of Canada FI Trims Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 31.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,174,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 541,013 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.22% of American Electric Power worth $102,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 935.9% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded down $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $101.58. 508,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,224,852. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $104.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AEP. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.77.

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.