ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 309,139 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $25,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,096,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in American Electric Power by 1,592.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,612,000 after purchasing an additional 389,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in American Electric Power by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,531,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,432,000 after purchasing an additional 522,608 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.20. The stock had a trading volume of 5,406,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,190. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.96. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $94.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

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.