Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $1.09 Million Investment in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,085,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AEP. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,370 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 436.9% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth approximately $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after buying an additional 19,081 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AEP. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.92.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP stock opened at $102.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $102.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.05. The firm has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $109.52.

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 company earned $1.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio 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.