Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $631,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,601 shares of the company's stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $149,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Choate Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $419,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 201.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 153,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,124,000 after acquiring an additional 303,916 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

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

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $104.40 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $89.91 and a 1-year high of $110.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $102.89 and a 200 day moving average of $102.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AEP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim lifted 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, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.31.

American Electric Power Company 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.

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