BMO Capital Markets Raises American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $95.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $93.00 to $95.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a neutral rating to a sell rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered American Electric Power from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim cut American Electric Power from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $88.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $83.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.77. The stock has a market cap of $46.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.54. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $69.38 and a fifty-two week high of $92.88.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 65.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 7.8% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 1.9% during the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 6,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in American Electric Power by 1.5% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.