American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,124 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,535 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $15,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,983,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 109.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter valued at $80,207,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $107.32 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.71. The company has a market cap of $57.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $109.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.