Empirical Finance LLC Sells 216 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEP. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in 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 lifted its position in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth about $80,207,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $100.35 on Monday. 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 $53.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.11 and a 200-day moving average of $97.77. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.22 and a 1 year high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEP. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power 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.