American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Acquired by Bouchey Financial Group Ltd

Bouchey Financial Group Ltd increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,827 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after buying an additional 352,588 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,009,000 after buying an additional 100,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,551,000 after buying an additional 84,704 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. Barclays lowered their price target on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP opened at $105.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $56.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.71 and a 200-day moving average of $98.31. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $107.84. 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, 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 firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.