Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,550 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,288 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 4,370 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 436.9% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after acquiring an additional 19,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $103.90 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $55.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $109.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.09.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

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.