Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 346 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,954 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth about $211,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 13.7% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 161.6% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,559 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 9.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 152,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,090,000 after buying an additional 13,038 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $99.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $52.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.37 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.68.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 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.