Kowal Investment Group LLC Boosts Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,627 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AEP. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 5,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 3.9% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 14.8% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.00.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $102.15 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.01.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

About American Electric Power

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.