Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Cuts Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. decreased its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 26.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,060,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 387,525 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $86,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in American Electric Power by 1,096.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 172,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,817,000 after acquiring an additional 157,832 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 308,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,225,000 after acquiring an additional 14,593 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Toews Corp ADV acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $760,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,171,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,726,982. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.59. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $93.56. The stock has a market cap of $46.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51. 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 results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by ($0.09). American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 82.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Guggenheim downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

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.