American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.83

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.83 per share on Friday, March 10th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%.

American Electric Power has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. American Electric Power has a dividend payout ratio of 58.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect American Electric Power to earn $5.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.9%.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of AEP stock opened at $92.70 on Wednesday. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $80.30 and a fifty-two week high of $105.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $47.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.42.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 13.08%. American Electric Power’s revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in American Electric Power by 0.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its stake in American Electric Power by 4.2% during the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Covington Capital Management lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covington Capital Management now owns 450 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, December 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 16th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $93.00 in a report on Monday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.82.

About American Electric Power

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American Electric Power Co, Inc engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation and Marketing. The Vertically Integrated Utilities segment covers the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers.