Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases Shares of 7,413 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise invested approximately $810,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc., acquiring 7,413 shares during the first quarter.
• American Electric Power reported $1.43 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with a revenue increase of 11.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.93, reflecting a 3.3% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 54.39%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in 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. The institutional investor bought 7,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $810,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,603,600 shares of the company's stock worth $793,510,000 after acquiring an additional 716,229 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,047,428 shares of the company's stock worth $649,983,000 after acquiring an additional 85,756 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company's stock worth $591,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165,888 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 27.5% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,851,264 shares of the company's stock worth $447,432,000 after acquiring an additional 272,997 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $116.00 price target on shares of American Electric Power and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.29.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $113.67. 1,444,192 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,594,898. The company has a market capitalization of $60.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.40. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $89.91 and a 52-week high of $115.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $104.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.19.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.39%.

Insider Activity at American Electric Power

In related news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.74, for a total value of $819,820.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 10,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,045,276.76. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.68, for a total transaction of $1,041,277.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,658 shares in the company, valued at $991,683.44. This represents a 51.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,314 shares of company stock worth $3,508,293 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

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.