MONECO Advisors LLC Buys 368 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,538 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 131,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,528,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 17,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $311,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $107.70 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $57.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $107.84.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. 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. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

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.