Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $3.42 Million Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,368 shares of the company’s stock after selling 391 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,273,181,000 after buying an additional 405,114 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $739,303,000 after acquiring an additional 776,965 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,543,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,191,000 after purchasing an additional 341,846 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,378,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,433,000 after purchasing an additional 35,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 542.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,282,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $100.83 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.75 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.63.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.43.

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.