American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Purchased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 119,789 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,238 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $10,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AEP. Bank of Stockton grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 5,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 0.9% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 13,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $102.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.61. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $104.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The company 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%. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend 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.