Barclays Boosts American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $88.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price target raised by Barclays from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AEP. StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Cfra restated a buy rating and set a $92.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Guggenheim lowered American Electric Power from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded 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 research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $88.14.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AEP stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $88.60. 3,332,409 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,771,451. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $92.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.77.

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

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 6,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in American Electric Power by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.