Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,422 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,096,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1,592.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company's stock worth $33,612,000 after purchasing an additional 389,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in American Electric Power by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,531,672 shares of the company's stock worth $190,432,000 after purchasing an additional 522,608 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AEP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim cut 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 note on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho lowered shares of American Electric Power from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.60. 3,332,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,215,932. The company has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $92.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. American Electric Power's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power's payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.