Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,353 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,983,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $121,605,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,498,000 after purchasing an additional 738,756 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,603,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,510,000 after purchasing an additional 716,229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 price objective on shares of American Electric Power and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.69.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AEP opened at $107.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.93 and a 1 year high of $110.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.00.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

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.