Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Raises Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2,547.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,166 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 122,362 shares during the quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $11,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,983,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,791,000 after buying an additional 2,165,888 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,605,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,120,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,270,000 after buying an additional 1,105,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,767,425,000 after buying an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $103.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.93 and a 52 week high of $110.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.34.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.68%.

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.