Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 285,383 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,305,275 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 285,383 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $120,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth $155,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in American Electric Power by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 70,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,264,000 after purchasing an additional 9,985 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 191.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 89,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,202,000 after purchasing an additional 58,916 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,021,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 12.5% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $104.48 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48. The stock has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $103.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.26.

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, 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 66.43%.

American Electric Power 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.