American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP Stock Acquired by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC raised its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 394,440 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,907 shares during the quarter. American Electric Power comprises about 1.6% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $46,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,980,601,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 5.4% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,872,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,897,829,000 after purchasing an additional 715,613 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,678,638,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,404,094,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at about $680,638,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $135.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Kate Dixon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,982,000. The trade was a 11.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $130.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.46. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.54 and a 12-month high of $140.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $123.35 and its 200 day moving average is $127.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.19. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.52%. The business had revenue of $6.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.39%.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) is an electric utility holding company that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Through its operating companies, AEP provides regulated electric service and manages power generation assets using a mix of energy resources, including natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable energy.

AEP operates one of the largest electric transmission systems in the United States and supplies electricity across portions of Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.