Focus Partners Wealth Buys 9,740 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,778 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,740 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 6,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 4,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 12,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 price target on shares of American Electric Power and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $98.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. 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 $85.93 and a 1 year high of $110.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.26.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.68%.

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.