North Star Investment Management Corp. Has $3.86 Million Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,647 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 410 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. State Street Corp increased its position in American Electric Power by 4.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,105,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,792,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,884 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its position in American Electric Power by 64.0% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,859,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,136 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 98.6% in the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,049,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,612 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,540,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,904,000 after purchasing an additional 712,350 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 29.9% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,066,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,269,000 after purchasing an additional 706,762 shares during the period. 74.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ AEP opened at $90.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $91.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.30 and a 52 week high of $105.60.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.75% and a net margin of 11.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AEP. StockNews.com initiated coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $112.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Electric Power from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.83.

Insider Transactions at American Electric Power

In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.99, for a total transaction of $80,435.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,047.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.99, for a total transaction of $80,435.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,047.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas K. Akins sold 6,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total value of $630,651.03. Following the sale, the insider now owns 143,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,975,213.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,897 shares of company stock worth $5,723,900 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Profile

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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.