Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,704 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $354,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in American Electric Power by 1.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 131,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the period. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 359,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,967,000 after buying an additional 61,267 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 113.0% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth about $203,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $106.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.26. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.16 and a 52 week high of $107.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

About American Electric Power

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.