Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,983,393 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,826 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of American Electric Power worth $242,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 40,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,256,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 53,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $396,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. 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 note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho cut shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.8 %

AEP stock opened at $90.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.16. The firm has a market cap of $47.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $92.10.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.