Claro Advisors LLC Sells 474 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Claro Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 474 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after buying an additional 19,081 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the third quarter worth $3,404,000. ING Groep NV boosted its position in American Electric Power by 244.3% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 294,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,217,000 after purchasing an additional 208,974 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at $1,815,000. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,398,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AEP. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upgraded American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $94.44. 3,709,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,360,845. 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 current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.69.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 74.55%.

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.