Investment Partners LTD. Acquires 909 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Investment Partners LTD. raised its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,401 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 11.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 39,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in American Electric Power by 4.4% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $783,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $106.05 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $107.84. The firm has a market cap of $56.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AEP shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.46.

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.