Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $337,000.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $220,983,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company's stock worth $591,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165,888 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $121,605,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,120,568 shares of the company's stock worth $472,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% in the fourth 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have issued reports on AEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on American Electric Power from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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, May 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.69.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on American Electric Power
American Electric Power Stock Down 0.6%
American Electric Power stock traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.56. 588,330 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,189,910. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.88. The stock has a market cap of $54.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.93 and a 1-year high of $110.48.
American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.
American Electric Power Dividend Announcement
The firm 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. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power's payout ratio is 71.68%.
Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power
In other American Electric Power news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.68, for a total transaction of $1,041,277.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at $991,683.44. The trade was a 51.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.
American Electric Power Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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