Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 5,812 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bank of New Hampshire purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.68, for a total transaction of $1,041,277.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $991,683.44. The trade was a 51.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.74, for a total value of $819,820.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 10,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,276.76. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,314 shares of company stock worth $3,508,293 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $104.40 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.91 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48. The firm has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The business had revenue of $5.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.68%.

American Electric Power Company 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.