Schnieders Capital Management LLC Grows Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 38.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,333 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,308 shares during the quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in American Electric Power by 14.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 70.7% in the third quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,953,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,835,000 after purchasing an additional 809,067 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.1% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,304,000 after purchasing an additional 660,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew 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 purchasing an additional 587,145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of several research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. Guggenheim lowered American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ AEP traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $85.56. 3,562,335 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,773,350. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.19 and its 200-day moving average is $80.25. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $94.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.51. 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 (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.