American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 65.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 532,895 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 210,507 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $44,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 70.7% in the third quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,953,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,835,000 after buying an additional 809,067 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,304,000 after purchasing an additional 660,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.4 %

AEP stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $88.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 773,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,736,181. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $92.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

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, 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 company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AEP shares. Guggenheim downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group lowered American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.14.

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.