First County Bank CT Sells 1,429 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First County Bank CT lowered its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,429 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 14,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,458,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in American Electric Power by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

American Electric Power stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $90.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,240,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,024,137. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.16 and a 200 day moving average of $96.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $48.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 2.70 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.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEP. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.13.

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.