Morgan Stanley Lowers American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $94.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AEP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $88.62.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP stock opened at $88.30 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.08. The company has a market capitalization of $46.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.53. American Electric Power has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $93.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced 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 business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Electric Power news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other American Electric Power news, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $440,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,140. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Greg B. Hall sold 5,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $518,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,476.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 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.