Fifth Third Bancorp Lowers Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,812 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $18,701,000 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. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 10,177.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,154 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 109.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the third quarter worth approximately $80,207,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AEP shares. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $98.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $52.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.56. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $75.22 and a one year high of $105.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.19.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.