BMO Capital Markets Boosts American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $114.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price objective upped by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $109.00 to $114.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.52% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AEP. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim raised their target price on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.79.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $102.22. 531,314 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,172,003. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.18 and its 200 day moving average is $92.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $53.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 38,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,147,000 after buying an additional 5,993 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in American Electric Power by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 78,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,368,000 after purchasing an additional 38,972 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 46,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,740,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 23,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the period. 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.