American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Bought by Joseph Group Capital Management

Joseph Group Capital Management grew its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 10.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,303 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the period. American Electric Power accounts for 1.1% of Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $2,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,615,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter worth $1,731,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 381.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,734 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 646.9% during the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 261,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,510,000 after purchasing an additional 226,435 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 21.7% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,170,000 after purchasing an additional 103,771 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Friday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.15.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $101.74 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.76. The company has a market cap of $53.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

About American Electric Power

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.