17,916 Shares in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Purchased by ABC Arbitrage SA

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 17,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 450.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 11,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 9,709 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 6.7% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 14.6% in the third quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 3,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 12.5% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 19,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 66,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $101.83 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.01 and a 12 month high of $105.18. The company has a market cap of $54.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.95.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.48% and a return on equity of 11.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

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.