American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $98.00.

AEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP opened at $98.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $52.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.06 and a 200 day moving average of $97.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.57. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $75.22 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 159,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,731,000 after purchasing an additional 13,635 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 8,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,644,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,009,000 after purchasing an additional 100,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $372,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.