Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Invests $947,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $947,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.3% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 39,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 11.4% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.7% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,273,181,000 after acquiring an additional 405,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 60.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 49,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,285,000 after acquiring an additional 18,726 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.27.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP opened at $96.31 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.22 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The company has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.74 and its 200 day moving average is $95.21.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 74.55%.

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.