Focus Partners Wealth Increases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,778 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,740 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $220,983,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,605,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings 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 valued at $472,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,317 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after acquiring an additional 763,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 31.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company's stock worth $315,498,000 after purchasing an additional 738,756 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $103.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,867,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,205,441. 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 firm has a market cap of $55.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company's 50-day moving average price is $105.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.32. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $85.93 and a one year high of $110.48.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. American Electric Power's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.68%.

American Electric Power 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.