Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 3,433 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,901 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $2,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at $220,983,000. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at $80,207,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 31.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,498,000 after purchasing an additional 738,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its stake in American Electric Power by 94.5% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,386,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,876,000 after buying an additional 673,644 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $104.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.26. 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 Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $110.48. The company has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. 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.