Sandy Spring Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 815 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 27,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $377,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 52,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,379,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,815,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AEP shares. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.0 %

American Electric Power stock opened at $105.11 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.