Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Purchases 791 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,490 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 304.8% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.97. The company had a trading volume of 3,123,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,846,845. The stock has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $86.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $93.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cfra restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group cut shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.43.

About American Electric Power

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.