Cambiar Investors LLC Purchases New Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 358,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,020,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 10,177.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,399,000 after buying an additional 1,963,154 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $100.83 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.79. The company has a market capitalization of $53.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.31 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

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.