Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 160,978 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,673,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 160,978 shares during the period. American Electric Power accounts for approximately 0.9% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $379,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 99,268.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,804,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,256,000 after acquiring an additional 2,801,349 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,357,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560,192 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,340,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,073,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161,083 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 26,257.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,900,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,966,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AEP. Cfra restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Guggenheim lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.08.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $81.50. 956,644 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,737,013. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $94.73. The company’s 50 day moving average is $82.62 and its 200 day moving average is $79.85.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.82%.

American Electric Power Company 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.