First Bank & Trust Increases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Bank & Trust boosted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 21.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,752 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,185 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $2,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,150,657,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth about $175,667,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,586,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,055,000 after buying an additional 1,043,885 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,304,000 after acquiring an additional 660,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in American Electric Power by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AEP shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Scotiabank increased their price target on American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.62.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.56 on Friday, hitting $87.74. 3,685,946 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,534,441. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $93.44. The company has a market capitalization of $46.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio 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.