Bank of Montreal Can Has $196.58 Million Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,131,425 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 176,581 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.40% of American Electric Power worth $196,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $220,983,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,498,000 after purchasing an additional 738,756 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,386,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,876,000 after buying an additional 673,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 168.0% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 917,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,645,000 after buying an additional 575,318 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $101.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $110.48.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. 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 Company 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.