First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Raises Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,720 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 935.9% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc increased its stake in American Electric Power by 52.1% during the second quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc now owns 438 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $100.69 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.01 and a twelve month high of $105.18. The firm has a market cap of $53.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.43.

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.