Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Boosts Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,146 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $7,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AEP. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 10,177.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,399,000 after buying an additional 1,963,154 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter valued at $80,207,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $94.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,963,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,247,779. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.69. The company has a market cap of $50.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.57. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.22 and a twelve month high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 74.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of 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 cut their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

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.