World Investment Advisors Purchases 9,706 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

World Investment Advisors grew its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 175.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,245 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,706 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,983,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at approximately $80,207,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $4,767,425,000 after buying an additional 763,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 31.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,498,000 after buying an additional 738,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 94.5% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,386,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,876,000 after acquiring an additional 673,644 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American Electric Power Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of AEP opened at $104.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $110.48. The company has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.79 and a 200 day moving average of $99.26.

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 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 last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 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.