Eastern Bank Purchases 2,981 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Eastern Bank increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,460 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,981 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $22,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,615,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter worth about $1,731,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 381.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,734 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 646.9% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 261,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,510,000 after acquiring an additional 226,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,170,000 after acquiring an additional 103,771 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 776,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,125,098. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $72.01 and a one year high of $105.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

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