Columbia Asset Management Raises Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Columbia Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,281 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the quarter. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 12.3% during the second quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 12,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 0.9% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 281,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,711,000 after buying an additional 2,606 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 14.8% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the second quarter worth $185,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AEP. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.77.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.7 %

AEP opened at $103.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.41. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $104.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.