Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,162,851 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,162,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,667,000. American Electric Power makes up approximately 0.4% of Nomura Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in American Electric Power by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,225,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,998,081,000 after purchasing an additional 425,649 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in American Electric Power by 14.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in American Electric Power by 4.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after purchasing an additional 587,145 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in American Electric Power by 13.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in American Electric Power by 5.1% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after purchasing an additional 374,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

In other news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $580,140. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total value of $518,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $563,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays increased their price target on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.92.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $87.81. 76,133 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,402,116. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $46.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $93.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.