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

Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.20.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEP. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC now owns 19,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 5,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AEP opened at $95.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.03. The company has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41. American Electric Power has a 1-year low of $75.22 and a 1-year high of $105.18.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 74.55%.

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.