Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires 3,181 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,894 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,181 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AEP. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,249,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,764,000 after acquiring an additional 213,153 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the third quarter worth about $914,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,191,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its position in American Electric Power by 46.1% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 1,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,331,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $104.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.16 and a 1 year high of $110.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.29.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.