Continental Investors Services Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,008 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Continental Investors Services Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,540,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,109,904,000 after purchasing an additional 712,350 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 42,719,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,693,119,000 after purchasing an additional 368,921 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,105,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,792,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,884 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,295,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,008,000 after purchasing an additional 131,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,568,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,958,000 after purchasing an additional 123,349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total value of $90,751.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,059,099.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total value of $90,751.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,059,099.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 884 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.99, for a total value of $80,435.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $667,047.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,897 shares of company stock valued at $5,723,900 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $90.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.44. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.30 and a 1-year high of $105.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $91.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.08.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.75% and a net margin of 11.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AEP shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Finally, Cfra upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.83.

American Electric Power Profile

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American Electric Power Co, Inc engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation and Marketing. The Vertically Integrated Utilities segment covers the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers.