Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP)

Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.17% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.00.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $101.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. American Electric Power has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $105.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.76.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. 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.