American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by Viking Fund Management LLC

Viking Fund Management LLC lessened its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,500 shares during the period. American Electric Power makes up 2.0% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $12,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 107.7% in the 3rd quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,801 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 39.1% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4,215.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 19,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after buying an additional 19,179 shares during the period. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AEP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on 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, Scotiabank upped their price target on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.79.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,849,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,150,735. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.82. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.01 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $52.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.12%.

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.