American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Stake Boosted by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,446 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,842 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 222.0% in the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Up 2.2 %

AEP stock opened at $81.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $94.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.85.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.64%. The business’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 82.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.08.

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.