Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Invests $114,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AEP. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after buying an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $175,667,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,586,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,885 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.1% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,304,000 after purchasing an additional 660,599 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,240,000 after purchasing an additional 587,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total value of $518,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total value of $518,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AEP. StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on American Electric Power from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.62.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $88.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.20 and its 200-day moving average is $83.92. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $93.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.