Carret Asset Management LLC Grows Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 62,622 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $6,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 10,177.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in American Electric Power by 542.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,541,000 after buying an additional 1,927,234 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in American Electric Power by 381.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,127,000 after buying an additional 1,581,734 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 221.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 578.2% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,948,000 after acquiring an additional 831,235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.43.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $98.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.37 and a 12-month high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.02%.

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.