River Global Investors LLP Buys New Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

River Global Investors LLP purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,096,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in American Electric Power by 1,592.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,612,000 after purchasing an additional 389,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $140,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP traded up $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $88.91. 1,162,613 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,740,720. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.94. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $92.88. The company has a market cap of $46.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.14.

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.