Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 2,991 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 135,006 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $12,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after buying an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 18.8% in 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 during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,009,000 after purchasing an additional 100,578 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in American Electric Power by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,704 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $107.70 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.20. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $107.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58.

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 last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS 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. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

American Electric Power Company 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.