Bfsg LLC Takes $172,000 Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 62,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 6,506 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Finally, RDA Financial Network lifted its position in American Electric Power by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $86.27. 740,940 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,735,820. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $94.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.29. The firm has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 82.82%.

American Electric Power Company 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.