American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Update

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 7,300,000 shares, a growth of 11.8% from the February 13th total of 6,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $90.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.44. American Electric Power has a 52 week low of $80.30 and a 52 week high of $105.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.95 and a 200 day moving average of $91.33.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 10.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Electric Power news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 3,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.44, for a total value of $357,581.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,460.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 3,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.44, for a total value of $357,581.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,460.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas K. Akins sold 51,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.44, for a total value of $4,564,480.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 143,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,838,843.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,897 shares of company stock worth $5,723,900 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEP. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. AXS Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 74.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Bank of America cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $101.00 to $98.00 in a report on Monday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Electric Power from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $108.00 to $99.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.83.

About American Electric Power

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American Electric Power Co, Inc engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation and Marketing. The Vertically Integrated Utilities segment covers the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers.