American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.93

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.93 per share on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from American Electric Power's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88.

American Electric Power has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. American Electric Power has a dividend payout ratio of 59.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect American Electric Power to earn $5.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.2%.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,981,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,131,004. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.52. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $72.01 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18. The firm has a market cap of $52.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEP. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.43.

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.