Morningstar Investment Management LLC Invests $398,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 4,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in American Electric Power by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

In other American Electric Power news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 1,616 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.75, for a total transaction of $149,884.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $827,793.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 1,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.75, for a total value of $149,884.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $827,793.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.99, for a total value of $80,435.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $667,047.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,988 shares of company stock valued at $1,569,844 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.60 on Friday, hitting $81.90. 1,168,914 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,721,048. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.45. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.30 and a twelve month high of $105.60.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.57 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 10.10%. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 9th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $82.50 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on American Electric Power from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Electric Power from $101.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Cfra increased their target price on American Electric Power from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.19.

About American Electric Power

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American Electric Power Co, Inc engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation and Marketing. The Vertically Integrated Utilities segment covers the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers.