Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Acquires 1,462 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 44.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,776 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,462 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,096,000 after buying an additional 11,065 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1,592.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,612,000 after buying an additional 389,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 26.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,531,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,432,000 after buying an additional 522,608 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra reissued a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.8 %

AEP opened at $85.56 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $94.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.25. The company has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 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 Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.82%.

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.