American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Stock Rating Lowered by Bank of America

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) was downgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $97.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $96.00. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential downside of 2.58% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.38.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $99.57 on Tuesday. American Electric Power has a 52-week low of $69.38 and a 52-week high of $104.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $91.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Therace Risch 5,274 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Therace Risch 5,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Antonio P. Smyth sold 4,898 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.