Short Interest in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Declines By 18.0%

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,810,000 shares, a decline of 18.0% from the January 15th total of 9,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $101.83 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.45 and its 200-day moving average is $97.92. American Electric Power has a 12-month low of $79.01 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $54.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.48% and a return on equity of 11.41%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.55%.

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.