Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 230,562 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,207,875 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 230,562 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.23% of American Electric Power worth $111,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth $220,983,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 109.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at about $80,207,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $106.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.12. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $109.52. The firm has a market cap of $57.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.77.

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.