Stock Traders Buy High Volume of American Electric Power Call Options (NASDAQ:AEP)

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 421,115 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 15,416% compared to the average volume of 2,714 call options.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.8 %

AEP stock opened at $90.58 on Thursday. American Electric Power has a 52 week low of $69.38 and a 52 week high of $92.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.16. The company has a market capitalization of $47.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.58 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter worth $27,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays raised 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 report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.14.

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.