Nordea Investment Management AB Boosts Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 381.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,995,884 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,581,734 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.38% of American Electric Power worth $171,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hendley & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Hendley & Co. Inc. now owns 36,367 shares of the company's stock worth $3,131,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Money Management boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 207.9% during the 1st quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 6,357 shares of the company's stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 12,249 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 60.9% during the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 81,083 shares of the company's stock worth $6,981,000 after buying an additional 30,703 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 7,594 shares of the company's stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 529.8% during the 1st quarter. CNB Bank now owns 4,289 shares of the company's stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 3,608 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

In other American Electric Power news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total value of $518,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at $563,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $563,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AEP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $88.62.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $87.11. 2,059,041 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,341,739. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $45.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.53. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $88.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.41. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $93.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.