Norden Group LLC Buys New Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $348,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,615,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,096,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 62,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 16,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

In other news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,140. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEP. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.62.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $90.84 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $93.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $89.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.53. The firm has a market cap of $47.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

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.