American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,165,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,763 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.22% of American Electric Power worth $127,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,808,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,174,000 after purchasing an additional 283,311 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,603,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,510,000 after purchasing an additional 716,229 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,047,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,983,000 after purchasing an additional 85,756 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,120,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,317 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.31.

Insider Transactions at American Electric Power

In other news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,658 shares in the company, valued at $991,683.44. This represents a 51.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.74, for a total value of $819,820.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,276.76. This represents a 43.96% 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 quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $107.95 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.91 and a twelve month high of $110.51. The company has a market capitalization of $57.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.59.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.68%.

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.