ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 684,670 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,967 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of American Electric Power worth $63,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 6,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 4,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 12,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.77.

American Electric Power Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of AEP opened at $101.61 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $85.93 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $105.31 and its 200 day moving average is $100.28.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $5.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.68%.

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.