EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 969 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 10.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,826 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AEP. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.43.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $101.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.18 and its 200 day moving average is $92.04.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 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.