Natixis Advisors L.P. Raises Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 344,379 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.07% of American Electric Power worth $27,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in American Electric Power by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after buying an additional 587,145 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 5.1% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after acquiring an additional 374,300 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,428,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,077,000 after acquiring an additional 98,897 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho cut shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 11th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.14.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP stock opened at $88.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.86. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $92.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.