Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 879,435 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,047 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $80,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $220,983,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 109.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in American Electric Power by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth about $80,207,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.2 %

AEP opened at $105.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $102.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.13. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 66.43%.

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.