Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 51,553 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,553 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 32.9% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 11.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 331,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,536,000 after purchasing an additional 33,144 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 3,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 172.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 376,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,434,000 after purchasing an additional 238,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,170,000 after buying an additional 103,771 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AEP shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Two 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.27.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $94.51 on Tuesday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.97 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $100.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.05. The company has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.54%.

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.