American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Bought by Two Sigma Investments LP

Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 168.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,818 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 36,298 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $220,983,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $591,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165,888 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $121,605,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 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 target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.69.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.15. 3,896,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,203,700. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $104.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.78. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.93 and a 12-month high of $110.48. 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 (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.68%.

Insider Activity at American Electric Power

In related news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at $991,683.44. This trade represents a 51.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.