AM Investment Strategies LLC Purchases Shares of 2,524 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

AM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 62,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,682,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 6,506 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth $251,000. Finally, RDA Financial Network increased its position in American Electric Power by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ:AEP traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $86.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,239,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,767,831. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.33. The company has a market capitalization of $45.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $94.21.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.82%.

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.