Analysts Set American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Target Price at $98.00

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.46.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AEP. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank cut 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth about $220,983,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165,888 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 109.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,125 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth about $121,605,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $106.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $56.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $97.43 and its 200 day moving average is $98.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. American Electric Power has a 52-week low of $79.16 and a 52-week high of $107.84.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is presently 66.43%.

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.