Umpqua Bank Increases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,941 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $336,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 458,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,243,000 after purchasing an additional 156,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 83,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,771,000 after buying an additional 21,362 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEP. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $102.05 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $95.80 and its 200 day moving average is $89.61. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $104.41. The company has a market capitalization of $53.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

About American Electric Power

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.