Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 558 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Procyon Advisors LLC lowered its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,908 shares of the company’s stock after selling 558 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AEP. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in American Electric Power by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 30,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 17.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 205,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,569,000 after acquiring an additional 30,836 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 36,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,643,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Cfra restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Mizuho lowered American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.08.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $85.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 288,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,023,042. The company has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $96.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53.

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

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 82.82%.

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.