Royal Bank of Canada Buys 85,756 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,047,428 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 85,756 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 1.32% of American Electric Power worth $649,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,389,032,000 after purchasing an additional 543,054 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,808,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,174,000 after purchasing an additional 283,311 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,603,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,510,000 after purchasing an additional 716,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $103.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, 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 quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.32. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $85.93 and a one year high of $110.48.

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

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AEP. Barclays increased their target price on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.77.

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.