Mather Group LLC. Acquires 198 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,856 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEP. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.0% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 308,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,225,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.1% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 128,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.0% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 64,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,199,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,222,000 after purchasing an additional 30,336 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 23,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $88.15 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.72. 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 firm has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $92.89.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.07.

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.