Sandbox Financial Partners LLC Invests $203,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 222.0% in the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Cfra restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.08.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AEP stock traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $86.10. The company had a trading volume of 3,077,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,406,437. The company has a market capitalization of $45.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $96.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.36.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.82%.

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.