American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 8th

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.93 per share on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. 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 raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. American Electric Power has a payout ratio of 62.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect American Electric Power to earn $5.96 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 62.4%.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP stock opened at $100.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.65. American Electric Power has a 52 week low of $74.97 and a 52 week high of $105.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Scotiabank boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.43.

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.