Essential Planning LLC. Acquires New Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Essential Planning LLC. purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 21,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 348.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 31,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,213,000 after acquiring an additional 24,329 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,316,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,088,000 after acquiring an additional 36,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 4,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.4 %

AEP stock opened at $102.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $99.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.78. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $109.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. Bank of America raised American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.46.

American Electric Power Company 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.