Ethic Inc. Invests $666,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Ethic Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $666,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,389,032,000 after purchasing an additional 543,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,808,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,178,174,000 after purchasing an additional 283,311 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,603,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,510,000 after purchasing an additional 716,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,120,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $472,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,317 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $105.77.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded up $1.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.04. 2,867,283 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,205,441. 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 50 day moving average price of $105.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 company earned $1.27 EPS. American Electric Power's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.68%.

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.