Independent Advisor Alliance Boosts Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,463 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,603 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,655,000 after purchasing an additional 352,588 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,009,000 after purchasing an additional 100,578 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,704 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.46.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $102.96 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $109.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.78. The company has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.43%.

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.