AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 189,119 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,217 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $16,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 8.2% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 34,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,027,000 after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 55.0% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 270,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,710,000 after acquiring an additional 95,838 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 60.5% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 100,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,841,000 after acquiring an additional 37,988 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the second quarter valued at $19,852,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 40,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,578,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Electric Power in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $102.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $53.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $105.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.97.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.