STAR Financial Bank Acquires New Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

STAR Financial Bank bought a new position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $336,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,556,000 after buying an additional 62,141 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 630,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,242,000 after buying an additional 8,517 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.15.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $103.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.44 and a 200 day moving average of $89.96. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $104.41.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.