American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Stake Raised by Trajan Wealth LLC

Trajan Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,168 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 10,177.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927,234 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 381.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581,734 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 221.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 578.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,948,000 after acquiring an additional 831,235 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.43.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $97.39 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $100.70 and a 200-day moving average of $94.18. The company has a market capitalization of $51.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.37 and a 52 week high of $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released 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 company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.10%.

American Electric Power 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.