Pitcairn Co. Decreases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Pitcairn Co. reduced its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in American Electric Power by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 120,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,572,000 after purchasing an additional 15,138 shares during the last quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 13.2% in the second quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,730,000 after buying an additional 4,971 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1,140.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 456,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,070,000 after buying an additional 419,870 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the third quarter worth about $3,404,000. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its stake in American Electric Power by 244.3% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 294,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,217,000 after acquiring an additional 208,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $99.89 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.67. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.22 and a twelve month high of $105.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.55.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AEP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America boosted 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

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.