Quotient Wealth Partners LLC Increases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,514 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Taylor Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth $350,000. Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $81,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $475,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in American Electric Power by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 117,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,572 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank increased 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. Barclays lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.79.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $98.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.01 and a 52-week high of $105.18. The stock has a market cap of $52.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 2.79 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. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 70.12%.

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.