Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes $35,000 Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in American Electric Power by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in American Electric Power by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 4,370 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in American Electric Power by 436.9% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American Electric Power by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after acquiring an additional 19,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $105.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.08. The company has a market capitalization of $56.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.58. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $105.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. 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.