Sigma Planning Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 16.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,004 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 10,177.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,154 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 221.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,451 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 578.2% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,948,000 after purchasing an additional 831,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $739,303,000 after purchasing an additional 776,965 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.27.

American Electric Power Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $92.96 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $100.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.05. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.97 and a 52 week high of $105.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $49.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.55.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 70.54%.

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.