Jeppson Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Jeppson Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 36,419 shares of the company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. American Electric Power makes up 1.5% of Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at about $262,000. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at about $205,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 355,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,848,000 after acquiring an additional 73,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,389,032,000 after purchasing an additional 543,054 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on American Electric Power from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.31.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $102.46 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.83 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48. The stock has a market cap of $54.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.42.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 13.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 71.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.68, for a total value of $1,041,277.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,658 shares in the company, valued at $991,683.44. This represents a 51.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.49, for a total value of $817,806.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,514.68. This trade represents a 30.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,314 shares of company stock worth $3,508,293 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.