Waldron Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,408 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589,451 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after buying an additional 1,181,706 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after buying an additional 374,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 5,033,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,826,000 after buying an additional 75,124 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $79.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $94.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.85. The stock has a market cap of $41.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AEP. Guggenheim downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. UBS Group downgraded 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 research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.15.

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.