Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 192 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,305 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 192 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambiar Investors LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $33,020,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,221,000 after acquiring an additional 3,865 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 62,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,751,000 after acquiring an additional 23,829 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 487,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,990,000 after acquiring an additional 7,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AEP. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on 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. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $102.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.86. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.51 and a 52-week high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.63%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.