Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 10,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,249,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,764,000 after buying an additional 213,153 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at $914,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at about $3,191,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 46.1% in the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 1,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,331,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.1 %

American Electric Power stock opened at $106.68 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.16 and a 52 week high of $110.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43.

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

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 66.43%.

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.