American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target Increased to $100.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on AEP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of American Electric Power from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $88.14.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.60. 3,332,412 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,215,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.36. American Electric Power has a 12 month low of $69.38 and a 12 month high of $92.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.10 and a 200-day moving average of $80.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in American Electric Power by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at $1,453,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at $500,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 6,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,078,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,827,000 after purchasing an additional 46,702 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.