American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.93

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 29th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.93 per share on Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%.

American Electric Power has raised its dividend by an average of 6.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. American Electric Power has a payout ratio of 59.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect American Electric Power to earn $6.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.1%.

American Electric Power Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $108.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $85.70 and a 1 year high of $110.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.88.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AEP. Barclays boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 target price on American Electric Power and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.69.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in American Electric Power stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,601 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 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.