Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Buys 5,671 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 27.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,498 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,671 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $2,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.6% during the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at $217,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in American Electric Power by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 130,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 43,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after acquiring an additional 2,271 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AEP shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.15.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $104.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.07 and a 200-day moving average of $90.67. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $105.18. The company has a market capitalization of $54.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

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.