GDS Wealth Management Reduces Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

GDS Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Excalibur Management Corp boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 15.5% in the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 3,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 8,674.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 300,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,367,000 after purchasing an additional 297,085 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,389,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.1% in the second quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 4,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 10.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,459,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,094,000 after buying an additional 141,556 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $104.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $105.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AEP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.15.

American Electric Power 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.