Savant Capital LLC Has $3.67 Million Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,136 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 14.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after buying an additional 3,589,451 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 70.7% during the third quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,953,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,835,000 after buying an additional 809,067 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,304,000 after buying an additional 660,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEP. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Guggenheim lowered American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.07.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $88.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $92.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.72.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.82%.

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.