Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Acquires Shares of 32,620 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,009,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 3.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 12,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $105.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $56.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.52. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

About American Electric Power

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.