F&V Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 49,080 shares of the company's stock after selling 145 shares during the period. American Electric Power accounts for approximately 1.6% of F&V Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. F&V Capital Management LLC's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $4,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,105,487 shares of the company's stock worth $2,792,380,000 after buying an additional 1,327,884 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,859,696 shares of the company's stock worth $204,634,000 after buying an additional 1,116,136 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 98.6% during the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,049,700 shares of the company's stock worth $177,197,000 after buying an additional 1,017,612 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,540,815 shares of the company's stock worth $4,109,904,000 after buying an additional 712,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,066,670 shares of the company's stock worth $265,269,000 after buying an additional 706,762 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Electric Power from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $99.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.33.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AEP traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.01. 299,722 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,906,557. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.97. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.30 and a fifty-two week high of $105.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $45.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. American Electric Power's payout ratio is currently 73.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Electric Power news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 1,004 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total transaction of $90,751.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,099.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Electric Power news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 1,004 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total transaction of $90,751.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,099.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas K. Akins sold 6,977 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total transaction of $630,651.03. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 143,547 shares in the company, valued at $12,975,213.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 63,897 shares of company stock valued at $5,723,900. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

American Electric Power Profile

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American Electric Power Co, Inc engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation and Marketing. The Vertically Integrated Utilities segment covers the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers.

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