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

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 650,537 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,031 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of American Electric Power worth $59,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company's stock worth $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,370 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 436.9% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth approximately $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in American Electric Power by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company's stock worth $65,667,000 after buying an additional 19,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.68. 3,056,954 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,161,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.93 and a 1 year high of $110.48. The company has a market cap of $55.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.26.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $5.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. American Electric Power's payout ratio is 71.68%.

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.