GS Investments Inc. Buys 10,359 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

GS Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 93.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,409 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,359 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $2,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEP. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in American Electric Power by 14.4% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 120,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,572,000 after buying an additional 15,138 shares during the last quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1,140.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 456,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,070,000 after purchasing an additional 419,870 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 263,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,697,000 after purchasing an additional 5,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its position in American Electric Power by 244.3% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 294,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,217,000 after purchasing an additional 208,974 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.27.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $96.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.39. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.22 and a 1-year high of $105.18. The firm has a market cap of $51.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.55. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 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.