American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 3,033,101 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the previous session’s volume of 2,761,385 shares.The stock last traded at $102.55 and had previously closed at $104.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.92.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.9 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.08 and a 200-day moving average of $99.05. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $54.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

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

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $220,983,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165,888 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 109.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,125 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $121,605,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. 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.