Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Buys 706 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 83.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,548 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 10.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 106,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,959,000 after acquiring an additional 10,173 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 114,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,928 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth $19,550,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 258.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 55,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,688,000 after purchasing an additional 39,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the third quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.7 %

American Electric Power stock opened at $106.96 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $109.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.78 and a 200 day moving average of $99.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

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

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.