Empower Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 771,541 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,887 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $71,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,655,000 after buying an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,009,000 after buying an additional 100,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 109.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after buying an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $101.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $54.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.01 and a twelve month high of $105.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.95.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 13.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 74.55%.

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.