American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Bought by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,747 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEP. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,221,000. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 24,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,000 after buying an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 175.2% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 15,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 9,706 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $104.48 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $110.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $103.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.23. The company has a market capitalization of $55.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend 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.