Orrstown Financial Services Inc. Invests $311,000 in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter worth about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc now owns 438 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $99.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $52.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.07. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.37 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18.

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

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 69.02%.

American Electric Power Company 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.