PFG Investments LLC Purchases 22,062 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 746.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,018 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,062 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $2,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at about $251,000. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 50.7% in the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 47.8% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 90,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,773,000 after purchasing an additional 29,102 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 27.5% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 10,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 26.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AEP. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Guggenheim lowered shares of American Electric Power from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Cfra reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock traded down $1.60 on Friday, hitting $85.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,975,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,656,889. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average is $83.53 and its 200-day moving average is $80.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $93.56. The company has a market capitalization of $44.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The company's revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. American Electric Power's payout ratio is 82.82%.

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.

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