American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by Balyasny Asset Management L.P.

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. cut its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,627 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,284 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AEP. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,249,203 shares of the company's stock worth $230,764,000 after acquiring an additional 213,153 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company's stock worth $65,667,000 after acquiring an additional 19,081 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company's stock worth $315,498,000 after acquiring an additional 738,756 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,103 shares of the company's stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,833 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 target price on American Electric Power and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.77.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.0%

AEP stock traded down $0.97 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.59. 5,206,998 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,188,159. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.93 and a 52-week high of $110.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.68%.

American Electric Power Company 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.