Morton Community Bank Purchases 581 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Morton Community Bank grew its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,065 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after purchasing an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,009,000 after buying an additional 100,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,551,000 after buying an additional 84,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $104.62 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $109.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 66.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEP. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upgraded American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.46.

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.