GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New Investment in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 222.0% during the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 304.8% during the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 91.6% during the 3rd quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised their price target on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.08.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP traded up $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,476,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,743,751. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $94.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.51.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. 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.