Community Bank N.A. Grows Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Community Bank N.A. grew its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,177 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,220 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,451 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,706 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.1% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after acquiring an additional 374,300 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,428,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,077,000 after acquiring an additional 98,897 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cfra reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $86.37. 3,865,023 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,774,513. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $94.73. The company has a market cap of $45.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.29.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 82.82%.

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.