Hodges Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 18,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,615,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,096,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 62,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 16,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1,592.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,612,000 after purchasing an additional 389,675 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP opened at $87.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.16. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $93.44. The company has a market cap of $46.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.53.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.62.

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.