American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Bought by ST Germain D J Co. Inc.

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 47.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,833 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power by 10,177.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price target 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.60.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP stock opened at $93.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.56.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 74.55%.

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.