Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Invests $207,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after buying an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 4,370 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 436.9% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 5,771 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $104.62 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $109.52. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.64. The company has a market capitalization of $55.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 66.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.46.

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.