Brokerages Set American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target at $88.92

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.92.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter worth $348,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,982,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,096,000 after acquiring an additional 11,065 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 62,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 16,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 1,592.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 414,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,612,000 after acquiring an additional 389,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $87.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.87. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $93.44. The company has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

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.