Wells Fargo & Company Boosts American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target to $114.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its price target increased by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $107.00 to $114.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 8.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on AEP. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Guggenheim upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $114.00 target price on American Electric Power and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.77.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $105.19 on Wednesday. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $85.93 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $105.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.22.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 4th quarter valued at about $220,983,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,791,000 after buying an additional 2,165,888 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 13,499.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,150,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,954,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,404 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4,567.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,764,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726,868 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,605,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Company Profile

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.