Advisory Alpha LLC Acquires 390 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,717 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after buying an additional 352,588 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 8.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,543,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,191,000 after buying an additional 341,846 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $97.49 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $75.22 and a one year high of $105.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.11. 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 capitalization of $51.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.56.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

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.