American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Raises Dividend to $0.93 Per Share

by · The Markets Daily

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.93 per share on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88.

American Electric Power has increased its dividend by an average of 5.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. American Electric Power has a dividend payout ratio of 59.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect American Electric Power to earn $5.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.2%.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $99.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,981,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,131,003. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $52.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.52. American Electric Power has a 12 month low of $72.01 and a 12 month high of $105.18.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on AEP shares. Barclays upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.43.

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About American Electric Power

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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.

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