Brokerages Set American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Target Price at $98.43

Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.43.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $99.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,981,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,131,004. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $100.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. American Electric Power has a twelve month low of $72.01 and a twelve month high of $105.18. The company has a market capitalization of $52.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. This is an increase from American Electric Power's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,615,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth $1,731,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 381.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company's stock worth $171,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,734 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 646.9% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 261,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,510,000 after purchasing an additional 226,435 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 21.7% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,170,000 after purchasing an additional 103,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.