Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Has $750,000 Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,305 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 10,177.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in American Electric Power by 542.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,541,000 after buying an additional 1,927,234 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 221.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,715,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,451 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in American Electric Power by 578.2% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 975,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,948,000 after acquiring an additional 831,235 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 9.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after acquiring an additional 776,965 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. 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. Barclays increased their target price on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.27.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $92.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.05. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.97 and a 1 year high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. 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 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.54%.

American Electric Power 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.