Capital Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,636 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in American Electric Power by 4.3% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $1,280,655,000 after purchasing an additional 352,588 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted 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 worth $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in American Electric Power by 8.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,543,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,191,000 after purchasing an additional 341,846 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in American Electric Power by 109.5% during the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP stock opened at $94.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41. 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 market cap of $50.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.74.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

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.