American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Up 7.0% in October

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,450,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the October 15th total of 6,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEP. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on 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. Guggenheim raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.27.

American Electric Power Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $96.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. American Electric Power has a 52-week low of $75.22 and a 52-week high of $105.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.26. The company has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.55.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 74.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 39,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 11.4% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,273,181,000 after purchasing an additional 405,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 49,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,285,000 after purchasing an additional 18,726 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.