Signaturefd LLC Purchases 303 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,516 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 103,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,578,000 after purchasing an additional 5,717 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.1% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 57,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,880,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 30,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 83,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.43.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $100.83 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.75 and a 52-week high of $105.18. The stock has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.52 and its 200-day moving average is $93.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.