Principle Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 3,865 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,920 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,865 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 109.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after buying an additional 1,962,125 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after buying an additional 1,087,163 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter valued at $80,207,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $100.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.57. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.31 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.79.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.