American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Stake Boosted by Argyle Capital Management LLC

Argyle Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,130 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 2,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 145,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,424 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,830,000 after buying an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $149,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,112,000 after purchasing an additional 7,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AEP. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of AEP opened at $105.16 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average price of $97.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.31. The stock has a market cap of $56.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.16 and a 12 month high of $107.84.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 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.