HF Advisory Group LLC Trims Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

HF Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 10,177.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in American Electric Power by 221.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,140,000 after buying an additional 1,182,451 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in American Electric Power by 578.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,948,000 after buying an additional 831,235 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after buying an additional 776,965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEP. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

American Electric Power Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $100.40 on Wednesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.97 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $100.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $53.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.55.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 70.12%.

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.