Meridian Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 724,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,381,000 after buying an additional 12,894 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,257,000 after buying an additional 2,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $97.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $51.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.55. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.22 and a 52-week high of $105.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.54.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.