United Community Bank Grows Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

United Community Bank grew its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4,011.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,555 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,055 shares during the quarter. United Community Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,015,000. Graypoint LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AEP shares. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.46.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $104.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $55.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.16 and a 12 month high of $109.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.64.

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 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.