American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Stock Holdings Increased by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 334.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 168,732 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 129,909 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $15,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 348.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 31,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,213,000 after buying an additional 24,329 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 31.9% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 9.8% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ AEP opened at $104.43 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $99.75 and a 200 day moving average of $98.75. The company has a market capitalization of $55.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $109.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

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.