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

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective 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, Bank of America raised shares of American Electric Power from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $105.33 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. American Electric Power has a 12 month low of $79.16 and a 12 month high of $105.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.07. The company has a market cap of $56.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.58.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEP. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,370 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 436.9% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth $419,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 640,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,081 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.