Foster & Motley Inc. Purchases New Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 222.0% in the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 304.8% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 91.6% in the 3rd quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $86.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $45.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $94.21.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 82.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.08.

American Electric Power Company 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.