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

Morton Community Bank lifted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,065 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,081 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 15.2% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 15,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,596,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the third quarter worth about $1,208,000. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 1,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.46.

American Electric Power Trading Up 2.0 %

AEP opened at $104.62 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.64. The company has a market cap of $55.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $109.52. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders 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 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.