American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Stock Position Reduced by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 48.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,258 shares of the company's stock after selling 89,192 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $7,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,287 shares of the company's stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1,640.5% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the company's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 2,067 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 62,239 shares of the company's stock worth $4,682,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,102 shares of the company's stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 6,506 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AEP. Cfra reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Electric Power from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group cut shares of American Electric Power from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $86.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,865,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,774,513. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.25. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $94.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. American Electric Power's revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power's payout ratio is 82.82%.

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.