Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Boosts Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,127 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $2,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $220,983,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position 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.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $105.11 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $101.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.08. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.16 and a 52 week high of $109.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.92.

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.