AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $337,000 Investment in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AEP. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 18.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 39,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,793,000 after buying an additional 2,812 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in American Electric Power by 414.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 249,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,563,000 after buying an additional 200,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 6.7% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock 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 target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research 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, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $106.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.15. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.16 and a 12 month high of $109.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 66.43%.

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.