First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,865 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 128,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 23,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 127.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 6,731 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 226.7% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 15,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 5.9% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 15,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $88.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.36. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $92.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.86.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.