Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 50.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,411 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,884 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $7,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,273,181,000 after acquiring an additional 405,114 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after purchasing an additional 776,965 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,378,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,433,000 after purchasing an additional 35,769 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth about $175,667,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.00.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP stock opened at $101.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $105.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

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.