Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 44.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 74,277 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,743 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $6,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the third quarter worth about $80,207,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 31.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,498,000 after buying an additional 738,756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.46.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $107.70 on Tuesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $107.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.28 and a 200 day moving average of $98.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.43%.

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.