American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.27.

Several research firms have recently commented on AEP. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank upped their price target on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,630,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,273,181,000 after purchasing an additional 405,114 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 9.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,586,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,303,000 after purchasing an additional 776,965 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 8.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,543,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,191,000 after purchasing an additional 341,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $96.31 on Friday. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $75.22 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.55.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.55%.

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.