American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target Lowered to $115.00 at Morgan Stanley

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $117.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on AEP. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $122.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $116.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $112.00 to $108.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.63.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $107.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.46. American Electric Power has a 1-year low of $89.91 and a 1-year high of $115.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.40.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.16. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 17.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. American Electric Power has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.570-6.770 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 54.39%.

Insider Transactions at American Electric Power

In other news, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.65, for a total value of $543,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,443,567.70. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth $2,121,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth $19,389,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.