Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 3,572 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,636 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,572 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. BLB&B Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.4% in the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 14,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 3.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 5.0% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Cfra restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.7 %

AEP stock opened at $86.03 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $93.56. 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 stock has a market cap of $45.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.67.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.82%.

American Electric Power 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.