American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Position Raised by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,305,275 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 285,383 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.25% of American Electric Power worth $120,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after purchasing an additional 763,813 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 15,060,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,389,032,000 after purchasing an additional 543,054 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,808,003 shares of the company's stock worth $1,178,174,000 after purchasing an additional 283,311 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,009,000 after buying an additional 100,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,844,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,551,000 after buying an additional 84,704 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $104.71. The stock had a trading volume of 812,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,158,024. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.16 and a 52 week high of $110.48.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.43%.

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.