First Financial Corp IN Boosts Stock Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

First Financial Corp IN lifted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 242.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 671 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 10,177.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,399,000 after buying an additional 1,963,154 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 109.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,125 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,087,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $80,207,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Scotiabank cut American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $94.54 on Tuesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. 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. The stock has a market cap of $50.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.74.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid 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 was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 74.55%.

American Electric Power Company 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.