American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.77.

AEP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 price target on shares of American Electric Power and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.5 %

AEP opened at $104.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $105.65 and its 200 day moving average is $100.26. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $85.93 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. The business had revenue of $5.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.68%.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 10.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,249,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,764,000 after acquiring an additional 213,153 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,081 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in American Electric Power by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,075,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,498,000 after purchasing an additional 738,756 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in American Electric Power by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.