American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,080,000 shares, a growth of 16.7% from the December 15th total of 8,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEP. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 4,370 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 204,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,821,000 after purchasing an additional 33,118 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 304.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 70,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,548,000 after purchasing an additional 53,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $97.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.84. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $75.22 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.