Diametric Capital LP Acquires Shares of 2,259 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Diametric Capital LP bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $220,983,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,207,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after buying an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $107.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.44 and a 200-day moving average of $99.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.76.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released 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 return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.77.

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.