QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 4,424 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 145,384 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,424 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $13,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after acquiring an additional 352,588 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,009,000 after acquiring an additional 100,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,551,000 after acquiring an additional 84,704 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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 price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $105.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.31. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $107.84.

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, meeting 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

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.