Zions Bancorporation N.A. Has $5.73 Million Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,117 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,389,032,000 after acquiring an additional 543,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after acquiring an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 18.8% in 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. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEP. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America increased their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.92.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $104.18 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $102.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.05. 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 Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The firm has a market cap of $55.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

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.