American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Reaches New 12-Month High at $94.17

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $94.17 and last traded at $93.91, with a volume of 486379 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.62.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total value of $518,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,140. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at $1,615,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at $1,982,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter worth $1,731,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 381.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,995,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,734 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,096,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.