Essex Savings Bank Grows Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Essex Savings Bank raised its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,274 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 897 shares during the quarter. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $203,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 221.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,451 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 578.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,948,000 after purchasing an additional 831,235 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after purchasing an additional 776,965 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.27.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $96.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $74.97 and a 52-week high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.54%.

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.