Allstate Corp Takes Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,468,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after acquiring an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in American Electric Power by 4.3% in 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. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,389,032,000 after buying an additional 543,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $427,009,000 after acquiring an additional 100,578 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $106.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $57.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.16 and a 1-year high of $109.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.78 and a 200-day moving average of $99.10.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

American Electric Power 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.