Taylor Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,200 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Taylor Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,510 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,288 shares in 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 valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,370 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in American Electric Power by 436.9% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in American Electric Power by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,081 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $105.86 on Tuesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.16 and a 1-year high of $109.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $56.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share 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 business posted $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.46.

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.