American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 630,904 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,517 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of American Electric Power worth $51,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. USA Financial Formulas boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 940.8% in the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $327,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,556,000 after purchasing an additional 62,141 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 59,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schulhoff & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.3 %

AEP opened at $91.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.80. The company has a market cap of $48.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $92.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.43.

American Electric Power 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.