Independent Advisor Alliance Buys 5,603 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,463 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,603 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PSI Advisors LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in American Electric Power by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 12,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ AEP opened at $102.96 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.78. The stock has a market cap of $54.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $109.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.