Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 567 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,621 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 7.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 1,640.5% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 2,067 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 2.0% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 62,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,682,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 116.3% during the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 6,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, reaching $86.37. The company had a trading volume of 3,861,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,774,414. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.25. The company has a market cap of $45.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $94.73.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 82.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.08.

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.