Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Acquires 78,510 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,688,890 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,510 shares during the period. American Electric Power accounts for about 14.1% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $137,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.0% in the first quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 4.4% during the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.9 %

American Electric Power stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $81.04. 1,262,114 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,760,695. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $69.38 and a one year high of $94.73. The company has a market cap of $42.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AEP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.15.

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.