Howe & Rusling Inc. Acquires 1,296 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 31.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,386 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 308,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,225,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 128,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 64,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,199,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,222,000 after acquiring an additional 30,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 23,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut 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. StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.07.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $88.55 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.85 and its 200-day moving average is $80.72. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $92.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

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.