R Squared Ltd Acquires 4,271 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

R Squared Ltd increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 159.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,952 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,271 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the second quarter worth $6,980,601,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 5.4% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,872,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,897,829,000 after buying an additional 715,613 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the second quarter valued at $1,678,638,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the second quarter valued at $1,404,094,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the second quarter valued at $680,638,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Kate Dixon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,982,000. This trade represents a 11.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $135.00 price target on American Electric Power in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $120.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $133.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.83.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $128.91 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.54 and a 1 year high of $140.58. The firm has a market cap of $70.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $124.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.19. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 14.21%. The business had revenue of $6.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.97 dividend. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.68%.

American Electric Power Company Profile

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) is an electric utility holding company based in Columbus, Ohio. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, it generates or purchases electricity and delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers. AEP’s operations include electric generation, transmission and distribution, with service territories across 11 states: Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.