Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Purchases 130 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,795 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 4,370 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 436.9% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 5,771 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after buying an additional 19,081 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $101.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $54.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.57 and a 200-day moving average of $97.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.01 and a 1-year high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.48% and a return on equity of 11.41%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEP. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

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.