Lincoln National Corp Lowers Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Lincoln National Corp cut its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,533 shares of the company’s stock after selling 413 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,096,000 after acquiring an additional 11,065 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in American Electric Power by 1,592.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,612,000 after purchasing an additional 389,675 shares during the period. Finally, AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $140,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Cfra restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.14.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $89.89. 282,016 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,711,067. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $92.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $84.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.04.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.92%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 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.