Wells Fargo & Company Increases American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $89.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $89.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

AEP has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded American Electric Power from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group cut American Electric Power from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on American Electric Power from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.4 %

AEP stock opened at $88.60 on Wednesday. American Electric Power has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $92.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.10 and its 200-day moving average is $80.86. The firm has a market cap of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth about $27,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors 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.