Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP)

Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.75% from the company’s current price.

AEP has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.00.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.4 %

AEP opened at $102.15 on Friday. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $105.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $98.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $53.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 57.2% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter worth $29,000. 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.