American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AEP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group lowered shares of American Electric Power from a neutral rating to a sell rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of American Electric Power from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $88.14.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.87. 3,330,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,750,336. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.04. The company has a market capitalization of $47.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $92.88. 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 (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. American Electric Power's payout ratio is 65.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WNY Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth $232,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 11.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 331,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,536,000 after purchasing an additional 33,144 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 38.3% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 301,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,924,000 after purchasing an additional 83,406 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 32.9% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 11.8% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.