First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 116,977 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,645,156 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 116,977 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.31% of American Electric Power worth $151,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,983,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,605,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,498,000 after purchasing an additional 738,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,603,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,510,000 after purchasing an additional 716,229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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, March 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $107.71 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $83.68 and a one year high of $110.48. 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 has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $104.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.47.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.