Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,477,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 892,538 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.65% of American Electric Power worth $320,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter worth $33,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.77.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AEP opened at $108.37 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $109.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $57.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

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.