American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Up 7.0% in October

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,450,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the October 15th total of 6,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,273,181,000 after purchasing an additional 405,114 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,655,000 after purchasing an additional 352,588 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 9.9% during 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. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim increased their target price on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. 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 research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.27.

American Electric Power Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $96.31 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 company has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.55. American Electric Power has a 12-month low of $75.22 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.26.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

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