American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,080,000 shares, a growth of 16.7% from the December 15th total of 8,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AEP. Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $97.25 on Friday. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $75.22 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.52 and a 200 day moving average of $96.84. The stock has a market cap of $51.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AEP. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,404,000. ING Groep NV grew its stake in American Electric Power by 244.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 115,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,650,000 after purchasing an additional 7,073 shares during the period. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at $303,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

About American Electric Power

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.