Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Buys New Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 144,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,289,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 100.0% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 118.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Premier Financial Group bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

In other American Electric Power news, CAO Kate Dixon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,982,000. This represents a 11.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $129.24 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.11. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.54 and a 12-month high of $140.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $153.00 price target on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $135.00 price objective on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on American Electric Power from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.83.

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.