American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Cut to Sector Perform at Scotiabank

Scotiabank cut shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $102.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $105.00.

AEP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their price target on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.13.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $92.71 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. American Electric Power has a twelve month low of $75.22 and a twelve month high of $105.18. The stock has a market cap of $49.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.55.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 74.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,730,000 after acquiring an additional 4,971 shares during the period. New England Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,404,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1,140.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 456,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,070,000 after buying an additional 419,870 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 244.3% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 294,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,217,000 after buying an additional 208,974 shares during the period. Finally, Williams Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the second quarter worth approximately $876,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.