ERn Financial LLC Invests $200,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

ERn Financial LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total value of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $563,476.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AEP. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.62.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $88.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.08. The company has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $93.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.