American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target Cut to $86.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.51% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Cfra reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Guggenheim downgraded American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.50 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Price Performance

AEP opened at $85.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $94.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.25.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 222.0% in the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.