Bank of Montreal Can Has $199.08 Million Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 8.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,954,844 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,278 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $199,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AEP. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in American Electric Power by 8.3% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 12,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,533,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 29,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,040,000 after buying an additional 13,687 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 274.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 31,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,239,000 after buying an additional 23,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 155,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,963,000 after buying an additional 3,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AEP. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.00.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $98.10 on Tuesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.22 and a 1-year high of $105.18. 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 stock has a market cap of $52.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $98.97 and a 200-day moving average of $95.59.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.