American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target Raised to $132.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its target price increased by Barclays from $120.00 to $132.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AEP. KeyCorp raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $133.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $135.00 price target on American Electric Power in a report on Monday, October 19th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.83.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $129.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $70.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46. American Electric Power has a 52 week low of $112.54 and a 52 week high of $140.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $123.82 and a 200-day moving average of $128.11.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 10.52%. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is 61.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Electric Power news, CAO Kate Dixon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,982,000. The trade was a 11.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,980,601,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,278,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the second quarter worth $8,448,000. Bellars Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the second quarter worth $10,377,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the second quarter worth $1,208,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Company Profile

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) is an electric utility holding company that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Through its operating companies, AEP provides regulated electric service and manages power generation assets using a mix of energy resources, including natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable energy.

AEP operates one of the largest electric transmission systems in the United States and supplies electricity across portions of Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.