Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Purchases 6,559 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 161.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,618 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,559 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,225,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,998,081,000 after purchasing an additional 425,649 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Electric Power by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,150,657,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in American Electric Power by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after acquiring an additional 374,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,304,000 after acquiring an additional 660,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AEP. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.62.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $87.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $93.44. The company has a market cap of $46.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.53.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Transactions at American Electric Power

In other American Electric Power news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at $563,476.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other American Electric Power news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at $563,476.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Electric Power 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.