Searle & CO. Has $1.46 Million Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Searle & CO. cut its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. Searle & CO.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter worth $26,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 52.1% during the second quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc now owns 438 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AEP. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.43.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $100.18. 376,776 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,117,570. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.75 and a 52-week high of $105.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $100.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 65.31%.

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.