Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 15,348 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Electric Power by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after acquiring an additional 374,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,428,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,077,000 after acquiring an additional 98,897 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:AEP traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $85.26. 2,975,865 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,656,889. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $93.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.53 and a 200 day moving average of $80.46. The stock has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.