American Electric Power Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:AEP)

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 421,115 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 15,416% compared to the average daily volume of 2,714 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Guggenheim cut shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 22,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 121,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,176,000 after acquiring an additional 5,570 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter worth about $217,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 21.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 519,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,083,000 after purchasing an additional 90,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 31,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Price Performance

NASDAQ AEP traded up $0.71 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.58. 2,042,669 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,721,986. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. American Electric Power has a 12-month low of $69.38 and a 12-month high of $92.10. The company has a market capitalization of $47.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.16.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

American Electric Power Company Profile

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.