Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,153 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,116 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $11,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 344,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,970,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 167.9% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 9,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 5,958 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 231.2% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 107,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,715,000 after buying an additional 74,900 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.77.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AEP opened at $100.28 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $104.41. The company has a market cap of $53.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.95.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio 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.