American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Purchased by Plan Group Financial LLC

Plan Group Financial LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,762 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in American Electric Power by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,273,181,000 after acquiring an additional 405,114 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 9.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after acquiring an additional 776,965 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 8.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,543,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,191,000 after acquiring an additional 341,846 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in American Electric Power by 1.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,378,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,433,000 after acquiring an additional 35,769 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in American Electric Power by 542.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $100.00 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.75 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $52.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $100.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim raised their price target on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

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.