American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Receives "Outperform" Rating from Raymond James Financial

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Raymond James Financial reissued their outperform rating on shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $122.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $115.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AEP. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.29.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.58. The company had a trading volume of 4,925,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,067,441. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.55. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $89.91 and a fifty-two week high of $114.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $104.61 and its 200-day moving average is $103.95. The company has a market cap of $60.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.40.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.16. American Electric Power had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.39%.

Insider Activity at American Electric Power

In related news, EVP Quinton S. Lies sold 10,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.68, for a total transaction of $1,041,277.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at $991,683.44. This represents a 51.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.74, for a total transaction of $819,820.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 10,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,045,276.76. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,314 shares of company stock valued at $3,508,293. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of New Hampshire acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its stake in American Electric Power by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 275 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in American Electric Power in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.