Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Raises Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 24.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,095 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,205 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $6,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 4,370 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 436.9% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,081 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.23.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $105.99 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $109.52. The company has a market capitalization of $56.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.11 and a 200-day moving average of $98.95.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

About American Electric Power

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.