American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,032 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,615,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,731,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in American Electric Power by 381.9% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,734 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 646.9% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 261,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,510,000 after purchasing an additional 226,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 21.7% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,170,000 after purchasing an additional 103,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $102.53 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $98.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.06. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year 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 cap of $54.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on AEP shares. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.00.

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.