Guardian Partners Inc. Buys Shares of 47,351 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 47,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,369,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 27,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter valued at $377,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 52,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,379,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $105.11 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.16 and a 52 week high of $109.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.07. 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, hitting 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

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.