Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Increases Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 414.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 249,154 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200,761 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $25,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at $544,000. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 6.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at $205,000. Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.6% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in American Electric Power by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank increased 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. Two 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $99.89 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $98.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.70. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.22 and a 1-year high of $105.18. The company has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. 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. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 74.55%.

American Electric Power Company 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.