Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 485 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,909 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AEP. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 27,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 6,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 91,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,347,000 after purchasing an additional 17,438 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 31.4% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 16.7% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AEP. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $102.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.24 and its 200 day moving average is $99.05. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.16 and a 12 month high of $109.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Sell-side 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 was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 66.43%.

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.