Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,305 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEP. UBS Group upped their price target on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.00.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $102.35 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $77.51 and a one year high of $105.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.55%.

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.