American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) PT Raised to $99.00 at BMO Capital Markets

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price objective raised by BMO Capital Markets from $95.00 to $99.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AEP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded American Electric Power from a neutral rating to a sell rating and reduced their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Cfra reiterated a buy rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Guggenheim downgraded 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 report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Electric Power from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Two investment 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, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $88.43.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $92.54 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.37. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $92.97. The company has a market capitalization of $48.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued 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 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 last year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. 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 3.80%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AEP. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 3.9% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 6,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in American Electric Power by 1.5% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 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.