Wealthfront Advisers LLC Boosts Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 334.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,732 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129,909 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $15,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. State Street Corp grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after acquiring an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,009,000 after acquiring an additional 100,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,704 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price target on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upgraded American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.46.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $104.43 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.75. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $109.52. The firm has a market cap of $55.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.43%.

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.