BMO Capital Markets Cuts American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $100.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price objective reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $108.00 to $100.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on AEP. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on American Electric Power in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.57.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AEP opened at $93.51 on Friday. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $75.22 and a fifty-two week high of $105.18. The company has a market capitalization of $49.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.69. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.55%.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after buying an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,524,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,655,000 after acquiring an additional 352,588 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,163 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 8.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,543,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,191,000 after purchasing an additional 341,846 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 109.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.