Shares of American Electric Power Co. Inc. AE, +1.93% ] rose 1.3% in midday trading Tuesday, after the electricity transmission company raised its quarterly dividend by 6.4%, to 83 cents a share from 78 cents. The new dividend is payable Dec. 9 to shareholders of record on Nov. 10. Based on current stock prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 3.81%, which compares with the yield on the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF XLU, +1.75% of 3.12% and with the implied yield for the S&P 500 SPX, +1.09% of 1.72%. American Electric’s stock has slipped 2.1% year to date, while the utilities ETF has declined 9.1% and the S&P 500 has shed 19.3%.
