Barclays Increases American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $88.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Barclays from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 0.68% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on AEP. StockNews.com upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim lowered American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cfra reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.14.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $88.60 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.97 and its 200 day moving average is $80.77. The stock has a market cap of $46.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $92.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 1st quarter worth about $1,453,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the first quarter worth approximately $500,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 7.3% during the first quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 6,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,078,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,827,000 after acquiring an additional 46,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $119,000. 75.24% of the stock is owned by 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.