Level Four Advisory Services LLC Buys 277 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,547 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,389,032,000 after acquiring an additional 543,054 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.7 %

American Electric Power stock opened at $106.96 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.78 and a 200-day moving average of $99.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 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.