American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target Cut to $104.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $111.00 to $104.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 8.54% from the stock’s current price.

AEP has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.27.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $95.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,115,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,145,890. The firm has a market cap of $50.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.55. American Electric Power has a 12 month low of $74.97 and a 12 month high of $105.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.71 and a 200 day moving average of $94.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.07. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Equities analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth $1,731,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 646.9% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 261,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,510,000 after purchasing an additional 226,435 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 582,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,170,000 after purchasing an additional 103,771 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 49,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,285,000 after purchasing an additional 18,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 664,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,197,000 after buying an additional 96,645 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.