Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 3.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in American Electric Power by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 12,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.46.

American Electric Power Trading Up 2.0 %

AEP opened at $104.62 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $109.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. 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.