American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Purchased by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,850 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 6.1% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,378,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,433,000 after buying an additional 35,769 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,325,000 after buying an additional 5,671 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the second quarter worth about $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.15.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $104.17 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $104.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $97.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders 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 3.38%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.