First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $1.05 Million Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,865 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 74,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,044,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 5,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,208,000 after buying an additional 7,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 6,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $88.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.86. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $92.88.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEP. StockNews.com raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.14.

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.