Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Grows Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 735,162 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,000 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned 0.14% of American Electric Power worth $67,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AEP. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 39,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,793,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at $544,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in American Electric Power by 414.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 249,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,563,000 after acquiring an additional 200,761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $105.15 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $109.52. The company has a market capitalization of $56.12 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $102.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.13. 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 (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

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.